CSO presents A Time to Inspire on Jan. 22, 2022 at 7:30 PM at the Cheyenne Civic Center. Masks are strongly recommended and socially distanced seating is available by request, if tickets are purchased by Fri., Jan. 21. Livestream tickets are also available for $15 per household.
CSO’s third Masterpiece concert of the season will open with a short, exuberant musical “curtain raiser” by composer Brian Rafael Nabors. Nabors is a very talented young composer living in Alabama whose music has already been performed by major orchestras around the world. His two-minute “Iubilo” is all about jubilation, celebration, joy, and excitement.
The orchestra will then perform Stravinsky‘s monumental and intense Rite of Spring ballet score as a concert work. At its premiere in Paris in May 1913, this piece caused a sensation and a riot, yet nowadays, audiences and orchestras really enjoy performances of this music as a concert piece. It has a unique beauty, with colorful instrumentation (it calls for a huge orchestra and many unusual instruments like alto flute, piccolo clarinet, Wagner tubas, etc.), amazing rhythms, and Russian folk tunes making fleeting appearances. It is also one of the most challenging scores in the orchestra repertoire, with extremely demanding parts for all musicians.
“I can’t tell you how many hours I have put into studying and preparing for conducting this piece,” says William Intriligator, CSO Music Director and Conductor. “I first fell in love with this piece during my college days, and I have studied it on and off since then, so in a sense you could say that I’ve been preparing for this performance for a few decades! Still, it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever conducted–maybe I’m a glutton for punishment since it was my dream to conduct this with the Cheyenne Symohony! And I want to thank Bob Womack for his generosity in helping make that dream come true.”
After intermission, CSO will perform the Concertino for Flute and Orchestra by French female composer Cécile Chaminade. There’s a tie in between this piece and the Stravinsky: they were both written in Paris in the early part of the 1900s, though there is a great contrast between the two pieces. CSO Principal Flute, Ysmael Reyes will be the featured soloist in this lovely piece. Beautiful melodies abound in this short concerto, and the audience will marvel at Ysmael’s gorgeous sound and amazing virtuosity!
The program concludes with the soulful and beautiful Symphony No. 1, the “Afro-American Symphony,” by William Grant Still. Written in 1930, this piece took blues and spirituals and incorporated them into a symphonic structure. Still was known as the Dean of Afro-American composers, and he truly was one of our greatest American composers. Intriligator explains, “This piece has so many wonderful melodies and such a range of emotions and moods (yearning, over-the-top excitement, longing, nobility, etc.). Like the Stravinsky, it also incorporates unusual instruments such as English horn, harp, vibraphone, muted brass, and even banjo! This is the first—and perhaps only—example of the banjo in a symphony; so you won’t want to miss it!”
Enhance your experience with “Lunch and Learn” on Jan. 21, from 12-1:00 PM at the Laramie County Library, which will also be livestreamed on the CSO Facebook page. “Classic Conversations” will take place on Jan. 22, at 6:30 PM at the Civic Center, prior to the concert.
When: Saturday, Jan. 22nd, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM
Where: Cheyenne Civic Center
Tickets: On sale now for $10-$50
Livestream tickets: $15/household
Call 307-778-8561 or visit cheyennesymphony.org
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