Sarasota Orchestra reaches for the stars for final Masterworks concert

In the same weekend that hermitage Greenfield Prize winning composer Angelica Negron is premiering a new piece that tracks the sounds of sunset on Manasota Key, the Sarasota Orchestra is presenting the local premiere of a composition meant to capture the spirit of a comet shooting through the sky.

Roger Zare, who grew up in Sarasota and performed with the Sarasota Youth Orchestra, created “NEOWISE” for a commission from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. The piece is part of the Saraota Orchestra’s final Masterworks concert of the season.

Zare was inspired by the discovery of the comet NEOWISE in 2020, during the first weeks of the COVID pandemic.

“The pandemic happened and there was a lot of uncertainty and then we were able to have this happen,” Zare said in a telephone interview from Boone, N.C., where teaches at Appalachian State University.

“When the comet flew by you could see it without binoculars. I always loved astronomy and seeing things in the heavens, making you feel that Earth is one tiny piece of a giant university, and it’s so beautiful to look up and see all those things.”

He said it was the first time he had seen a comet with his own eyes since comet Halle-Bopp in 1997.

He said his piece “kind of envisions this fly by. Takes the perspective of the comet or of us seeing the comet as it approaches from really far away. I use a clarinet solo to represent the distant comet coming. The music gets more exciting. As comets get closer they heat up and they create brilliant tails that make them easier to see.”

Zare said it is influenced sonically by music that he loves to listen to, particularly scores to science fiction films or Gustav Holst’s “the planets.”

It’s part of a program that will be led by Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor in her Sarasota debut, joined by pianist Joyce Yang, that includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8.

A Sarasota debut

For Wincor it will be a new experience.

“I’ve heard very positive things about the Sarasota Orchestra and the festival they have in the summer. I know there’s a lot happening in the city. I also have not yet worked with the solooist but I met her when I was an assistant in Dallas. I’m looking forward to a wonderful week."

Wincor said she works frequently on new music, which requires “the curiosity and openness to understand someone’s language. I do think I have that curiosity in general. I look forward to what new I can learn from the music, what I can discover.”

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She will be conducting the Dvořák symphony for the first time in its entirety. “I’ve encountered it in my studies. I like the folkloristic and dancing elements of Dvořák and the more lyrics aspects and sentimental moments.”

As for the Mozart, she said, "This concerto speaks for itself. I’m mostly looking forward to working with Joyce who is an amazing pianist.”

Yang took the silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2005, when she was the youngest contestant. He made her New York Philharmonic debut with conductor Lorin Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall and on the orchestra’s tour of Asia. She has since worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic.

‘Yang Plays Mozart’

Sarasota Orchestra Masterworks with conductor Katharina Wincor and pianist Joyce Yang. 7:30 p.m. April 12 and 13 and 2:30 p.m. April 14. Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $29-$105,. 941-953-3434; sarasotaorchestra.org

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Orchestra closes Masterworks season with local debuts