PRESS RELEASE FROM BLUE RIDGE ORCHESTRA:
The Blue Ridge Orchestra launches its 17th season this month, welcoming Music Director Milton Crotts back to the podium after his yearlong sabbatical. The season begins on the 17th and 18th of September with performances of Gaga for Vivaldi, an intimate chamber program filled with Baroque delights for string orchestra.
The program features the elegant music of Antonio Vivaldi and his contemporaries with a finale, Lady Gaga Fugue, that may steal the show. The concert opens with Vivaldi’s exuberant Allegro in D, played by the Blue Ridge Chamber Symphony, an ensemble of accomplished chamber musicians drawn from the orchestra. The Allegro is followed by Johann Stamitz’s Symphony in G minor: a 3-movement symphony composed by the founder of the Mannheim School of symphonic composition. Although his works are rarely performed in the 21st century, Stamitz was well known in the 1700’s. He was a major contributor to the development of the symphonic form, numbering Mozart among those who followed his footsteps.
The second Vivaldi offering features Erin Klimstra and Bill Bednash, the BRO’s principal and assistant principal cellos, performing the Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor. Of his hundreds of concertos, this is the only one Vivaldi wrote for two cellos. It is remarkable for the energetic interplay between the solo instruments, and represents Vivaldi at his finest. The cellos are followed by Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 6 by Francesco Geminiani, a student of Corelli and a contemporary of Handel. The concert ends with a Baroque arrangement of the theme from Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance — a unique intertwining of classical and modern influences.
The Blue Ridge Orchestra is an all-volunteer ensemble drawing on Western North Carolina’s wealth of musical talent to present low-cost, high-quality performances of classical music in accessible spaces in and around Asheville.
Gaga for Vivaldi will be presented September 17 at 3pm, at Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church, 701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa, and September 18, at 3pm, at St Giles Chapel, Deerfield Retirement Community, 1617 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, Admission is free; donations accepted. For more information: blueridgeorchestra.org
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.