Pre-Concert Talk with Mike Garson at 6:40 pm in the CAC's Capitol Lounge (cash bar). Concert Sponsor: M&T Bank. Guest Artist Sponsor: Attorneys for the Arts.
Soloist: Mike Garson, piano
REPERTOIRE
West Side Story, Overture: Bernstein
Danzon No. 2: Marquez
Estancia: Malambo: Ginastera
also: 2009 Young Artists' Competition winner Joseph Novakovich will perform the first movement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto.
may concert will connect gauchos to bernstein
The road from the Pampas to Manhattan is long, but it is connected by music. On Tuesday, May 12th, at 7:30 p.m., the WSO will follow that road in their Pops Concert: “From Buenos Aires to New York.” For part of the program (for the first time in WSO history), the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra (WSYO) will split the stage to perform with the WSO. The Keystone Saxophone Quartet will also perform a “bonus set” of music in the inner lobby prior to the concert.
The concert will begin with Leonard Bernstein (1918-90) and his Overture to West Side Story, the evergreen musical that tells the story of young people discovering love and life in New York City. WSO Music Director Tomasz Golka said, “West Side Story was a romantic look at life in New York during the 1950s, seen through the eyes of young Puerto Rican transplants, navigating their way through gangs, work, and family. Bernstein said it with a lot of Latin influence.”
 Joseph Novakovich, the WSO’s 2009 Young Artists’ Competition Winner, will then perform the first movement of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. Golka described Novakovich as “a spectacular soloist.”
Next, the WSYO will join the WSO to perform “Danzon No. 2” by Arturo Marquez (1950-), a Mexican composer who, according to Golka, “writes material that mixes the dances and melodies from all the different states of Mexico. It’s a big country, and each region has its own sound and style. Marquez did a great job of blending these elements into symphony repertoire.”
The first set will close with “Estancia: Malambo” by Alberto Ginestera (1916?83), one of Argentina’s greatest composers. Golka explained that “‘Estancia’ is excerpted from a ballet. The ‘Malambo’ depicts the chivalrous side of the Argentine cowboys, better known as the Gauchos. It is a typical, energetic dance of the Gauchos, and the Malambo signifies the music that led to the Milagros and Tango songs of the twentieth century.”
The second part of the Pops Concert centers on guest artist Mike Garson, a composer-pianist best known for his work with pop/rock music legend David Bowie (see article on page 1). The New York City-born Garson will mix his own orchestral arrangements with children’s choir and jazz trio, including drummer Bob Leidhecker (WSO percussionist) and WSO bassist Tim Breon.
Garson’s set will include a world premiere: Fanfare for a New Beginning, composed by Garson for orchestra, trio, and chorus. Other original compositions to be performed are “Metropolis” (orchestra), “Our Daughters,” and “Gershwin Fantasia” (orchestra, trio and chorus).
Orchestra and trio will also perform “Blue Rondo,” Garson’s arrangement of a Dave Brubeck standard. The orchestra, trio, and choir will join together to perform Garson’s arrangement of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” with the Jersey Shore Middle School Treble Choir (of the Jersey Shore Area School District).
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