FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2008
PRESS CONTACT: Rebecca Hawkins
781-274-8233
http://www.lexingtonsymphony.org/press/
LEXINGTON SYMPHONY PRESENTS ALL-AMERICAN PROGRAM WITH DUKE ELLINGTON’S HARLEM
On Sunday, April 13 at 3:00pm in Cary Hall, the Lexington Symphony with Music Director Jonathan McPhee presents an all-American program for Lexington’s Patriots' Day celebrations. The concert includes the works of American composers who have boldly used popular music in classical forms to define the free, independent-minded American spirit. The rich rhythms and harmonies of jazz permeate this program; soulful swing and gutsy blues are painted in full symphonic sound.
Opening with the simple Americana beauty of Copland's Our Town, set in small-town New Hampshire, the program then takes us cross-country to Michael Daugherty's Spaghetti Western. Here, the solo English horn, played by Lexington resident and BSO principal Robert Sheena, is The Man with No Name traversing the magnificent musical vistas of the wild west. Next stop is New Orleans in the film score from Streetcar Named Desire, where the gritty swagger of Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) and the delicate instability of Blanche Dubois (Vivien Leigh) are musically crafted in the ground-breaking Oscar-nominated jazz score by Alex North. Harlem, by Duke Ellington, presents a joyous, vibrant finale, described by Ellington himself as a Sunday morning tour of “this place called Harlem,” where “[e]verybody is in a friendly mood.”
English horn soloist Robert Sheena has been the principal English horn player for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Boston Pops Orchestra (BPO) since 1994. Mr. Sheena has been honored with premieres and appearances as soloist with the BSO/BPO and has received much critical and audience acclaim. As a teacher of oboe and English horn, Mr. Sheena is on the faculties of Boston University, the Boston Conservatory, and the Longy School of Music. An alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center, he works with TMC Fellows in chamber music coachings and master classes at Tanglewood. Along with BSO principal oboe John Ferrillo, he co-directs an intensive two-week summer workshop for young oboists at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
Music Director Jonathan McPhee, one of New England’s leading musical figures, also conducts the Boston Ballet, Symphony by the Sea, and the Longwood Symphony, the orchestra of Boston’s medical community. He shares his thoughts about the program in a conductor's talk one hour before the concert.
Advance tickets for Lexington Symphony performances can be purchased on-line at www.lexingtonsymphony.org, at Wales Copy Center (1810 Mass Ave, Lexington Center), or by calling (781) 863-9581. Ticket prices are $30; seniors $25, students $15. Discounted season subscriptions are available.
