RECENT PERFORMANCES
The world premier of Sahba Aminikia’s House of Circus was first aired in the final concert of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2020-21 virtual season. The video, produced by Pinar Demiral, features “Circus Heroes” of the Sirkhane Social Circus School, which provides a place of empowerment, expression and play for survivors of the ongoing war in Syria.
This performance of the first movement of Dušan Bogdanović’s Jazz Sonata was first aired as part of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2020-21 virtual season. An incomparable composer, performer and improvisor, Dušan was a one of my teachers at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, so I was thrilled to share his music with our audience.
RECENT PROGRAM NOTES
Margaret Bonds – The Montgomery Variations (1964)
1963 and 1964 were extraordinary years in the American Civil Rights Movement. Brown v. Board of Education had outlawed school segregation, and by extension the
Florence Price – Symphony No. 4 in D minor (1945)
Twelve years prior to composing her Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Florence Price had her first symphony premiered at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 in B minor (1893)
The Myth On October 28, 1893, Tchaikovsky took to the podium to conduct the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, a monumental work as fraught with
Alice Mary Smith – Symphony in C minor (1863)
Born in London in 1839, Alice Mary Smith was the daughter of Elizabeth Lumley and Richard Smith, a wealthy lace merchant. Her earliest published work,
Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5 in D minor (1937)
EVERYTHING’S READY: THE POEMAS IS ITS WAY, IS SILENT.BUT SUDDENLY THE THEME BREAKS OUTHAMMERS AT THE WINDOW LIKE A FIST,AND FROM FAR OFFA TERRIBLE SOUND
Missy Mazzoli – Proving Up (2016)
[Musical notes to accompany Stage Director notes] Acoustic guitars struck with percussion mallets. Eerie harmonicas and muted horns. Dusky strings, brash woodwinds, a nagging harpsichord,
