Adrian Symphony Orchestra to feature Stravinsky in 2023-24 season
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ADRIAN — Over the course of its upcoming season, the Adrian Symphony Orchestra will do a deep dive into one of the 20th century’s pivotal music figures: Igor Stravinsky.
Each of the ASO’s four classical concerts in the 2023-24 season features a Stravinsky masterwork. First comes the “Firebird” Suite to open the season Oct. 8, then there’s “Petrouchka” on Nov. 12 and “Pulcinella” on March 15, 2024. All of this serves as a leadup to Stravinsky’s masterwork “Rite of Spring,” which anchors the final classical concert on May 3, 2024.
“We’ve been talking about how to present major orchestral works here,” ASO Music Director Bruce Anthony Kiesling said, “and so this is a season-long arc,” including spending some time at each concert talking about “Rite of Spring” to build anticipation for that performance.
There’s a reason why Stravinsky is the focus of this particular “season-long arc.”
“Stravinsky is the most influential composer of the 20th century,” Kiesling said, “and ‘Rite of Spring’ is the most influential work.” In the same way that Beethoven changed classical music roughly a century earlier, “no one wrote music the same way after ‘Rite of Spring.’
“So the goal is to shine a light on some really great repertoire.”
The original ballet scores for “Firebird,” “Petrouchka,” and “Rite of Spring” were written within just three years, 1910 to 1913. “Rite of Spring” was so avant-garde compared to anything that had come before that, as the story (likely exaggerated over the years) has it, a near-riot broke out at the premiere.
No matter what actually happened at that concert, “Rite of Spring” ushered in a whole new musical era.
“’Firebird’ is the height of Romanticism, and ‘Rite of Spring’ is so different,” Kiesling said. In the latter, Stravinsky “abandons conventional thinking about harmony. The music is now primarily driven by rhythm, and by instruments playing at the instruments’ ranges.”
But audience members who want to hear works by Beethoven and Mozart and other more-traditional classical music will find plenty of that this season too. So will people who want to hear pops tunes or pieces by contemporary composers.
In that more-traditional vein, the ASO has programmed Glinka’s “Ruslan and Ludmila” Overture and Bernstein’s “Serenade” (both in October), Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 (November), Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, known as the “Jupiter” Symphony (March 2024), and Rachmaninoff’s “Variations on a Theme of Paganini” (May 2024).
The Bernstein “Serenade” features guest artist Danielle Belen, who is on the music faculty at the University of Michigan. “She’s a dear friend of mine and of the symphony,” Kiesling said, and he’s looking forward to working on this piece with her.
“It’s a little heady,” he said of the work, and not at all easy to perform. “But I think it’ll be a nice fit with the rest of the concert.”
Pianist Henry Kramer joins the ASO for the Beethoven concerto in November. “He’s an artist on his way up,” Kiesling said, “and ever since we hired him his star has continued to rise.”
The other guest artist on tap to perform with the Adrian Symphony this season is one that concert-goers may recognize from his 2019 concert appearance with the orchestra: Dominic Cheli. Then, it was the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1; this time, in May 2024, he performs Rachmaninoff’s “Paganini” variations.
Besides all these musical chestnuts, the ASO continues its recent practice of presenting music by more modern-day composers, this season in the form of Gala Flagello’s “Vitality,” Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja Anthem of Unity,” and Ruth Crawford Seeger’s “Rissolty, Rossolty.”
The Ann Arbor-based Flagello wrote “Vitality,” which was inspired by a Martha Graham quote, for the Aspen Music Festival just last year. “It’s really taken the world by storm,” Kiesling said.
As for Coleman, ASO audiences already got to hear one of her works last season: “Seven O’Clock Shout.” Kiesling thinks “Umoja” — the Swahili word for “peace” — is even better.
“I did it for the first time a few months ago and was really taken with it,” he said. “I said, ‘We have to do this in Adrian.’”
Crawford Seeger was an American composer of the early to mid 20th century (and folk musician Pete Seeger’s stepmother) who started out as an “ultramodernist” but later turned to working with folk music. “Rissolty, Rossolty” was one of the latter, using traditional tunes as its underpinnings.
In addition to all these classical offerings, the ASO’s season includes three types of concerts that have become traditions over the years: a holiday pops concert in December, a movie-music pops concert (this year, scores from the “Harry Potter” films are the focus) in February 2024, and a season-ender in June 2024 that doesn’t feature the orchestra at all.
That season finale has, over time, ranged from jazz and swing performances to bands paying tribute to John Denver and the Beach Boys. This season it’s the Eagles’ turn, with the band Heartache Tonight performing hits by the classic band.
Kiesling said he’s confident that the 2023-24 season will only build upon what was a successful 2022-23 season.
“Last year turned out to be a great year,” he said, “We’re way ahead of the industry in terms of getting our pre-COVID audience back, and I don’t think the orchestra has ever sounded better.”
And he’s eager to see how the upcoming season’s multiconcert focus on one composer’s music is received by audiences. “If it resonates with people, it opens up other possibilities,” he said.
For more information on the season and to order tickets, visit adriansymphony.org or call the ASO at 517-264-3121.
ASO season at a glance
3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023: “Firebird.” Glinka’s “Ruslan and Ludmila” Overture, Bernstein’s “Serenade,” Stravinsky’s “Firebird” Suite. Guest artist Danielle Belen, violin
3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023: “Petrouchka.” Gala Flagello’s “Vitality,” Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka.” Guest artist Henry Kramer, piano
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023: “Ho-Ho Holidays.” Holiday pops concert
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2024: “Harry’s Wondrous World.” Music from the Harry Potter films
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2024: “Pulcinella.” Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja Anthem of Unity,” Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella,” Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, 2024: “Rite of Spring.” Ruth Crawford Seeger’s “Rissolty, Rossolty,” Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” Guest artist Dominic Cheli, piano
7:30 p.m. Friday, June 7, 2024: “Heartache Tonight.” Eagles hits performed by the tribute band Heartache Tonight
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian Symphony Orchestra to feature Stravinsky in 2023-24 season
