Elise commentary: A Yellow City oasis for culture and the arts
For those who might consider Amarillo a culturally arid plain whose elevation is 3,662 feet, there are two truths. One is that Amarillo is indeed arid; the other is the approximate elevation.
What is not true is that this city is culturally dry. There are a multitude of opportunities to learn and be involved in music, art, film and theater here.
One of the many fantastic and thought-provoking events in town is the “lunch and listen” hour held on Fridays at noon the day of an Amarillo Symphony concert.
The program is free to the public, but one can also order a delicious lunch from Jason’s Deli for $15 to enjoy while attending the panel discussion. You don’t even have to order the food yourself. The friendly, hard-working staff at the symphony office do it for you.
The hour includes a welcome and introduction by the Executive Director of the Symphony, Larry Lang, former Colonel and Commander of The United States Air Force Band. As a musician and conductor himself, Colonel Lang provides wonderful introductions to the upcoming concerts and often prompts great questions to the panel.
The panel is comprised of Music Director, Maestro George Jackson, who has been with the symphony since 2022. Jackson is a much sought-after conductor of European orchestras, in addition to his otherwise cramped schedule. Hearing him speak about the pieces he conducts truly transports the listener to the composer’s state of mind and heart.
Another member of the panel is Dr. Kimberly Hieb, who received her Ph.D. in musicology from the University of British Columbia, and has been a professor at West Texas A&M University since 2016. Dr. Hieb also hosts a High Plains Public Radio hour called “Classical Music Amarillo” on Sundays at noon. Her vast knowledge and passion for everything music-related are nothing short of infectious.
The third member of the panel is usually either the featured performer and/or the composer of the weekend’s symphony program.
On Friday, February 23, my husband and I had the pleasure of listening to Maestro Jackson, Dr. Hieb and Dr. Nathanal Fryml, Director of Choral Activities at Amarillo College and Artistic Director of the Amarillo Master Chorale, speak about the weekend’s program, including Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C# Minor.
Dr. Fryml is a prolific composer, a keyboard soloist, a chamber musician and an all-around music aficionado. He was the featured composer of the weekend’s performance, with his Novae Laudis (Centennial Season Commission).
Unfortunately, my husband and I had unbreakable commitments on both Friday and Saturday evenings, so we were unable to attend the symphony this time. We look forward to hearing Dr. Fryml’s new composition as soon as possible.
However, our time at “lunch and listen” was so captivating that we spent several hours between commitments on YouTube, watching and listening to the Mahler symphony led by different conductors over the space of many decades.
Despite being raised in musical environments and playing various instruments (in my case, not well), neither of us knew the Mahler piece.
Someone very close to me who – in my opinion – was the Rain Man of classical music in that he could name the composer and piece in about 3 measures, disliked Mahler so much that he referred to him as “mal heure,” which is (roughly translated) “bad hour” in French.
That notion was completely dispelled for us on Friday. We were intrigued by the panel’s discussion of the instrumentation and sheer scope of the piece, not to mention the interesting use of meter throughout.
From the opening solo trumpet signifying a funeral march, to the brilliant Adagietto, the fourth movement of the symphony, scored for strings and harp and thoughtful of his future wife, Alma, the symphony is grand, turbulent and weaves a rich tapestry of colors.
I cannot speak with clarity about the technical complexity and variety of this work. That must lie with the professionals. What I can say is that we have not heard many (any?) earlier symphonic works with the level of chromaticism as Mahler’s No. 5.
An interesting point George Jackson shared with the audience is that Mahler was very intentional in writing instructions for conductors to follow. He added that it was almost as though the composer anticipated incorrect interpretations, such as slowing down or picking up the pace during the different movements of his symphony.
One of the versions of the work my husband and I watched online was conducted by someone who did not have a score in front of him. Seeing this, Alan remarked, “how does he even know what to do without Mahler bossing him around?”
This is but one example of the impact the lunch and listen program had on us; i.e., we knew a few specific actions to anticipate when hearing the symphony.
One of the panel members quoted a Greek proverb about an old man who plants a tree under whose shade he knows he shall never sit. Perhaps one interpretation of the proverb is: Don't wait to be old; make memories; plant trees.
Make a long-lasting memory for yourself by attending “lunch and listen” at the Amarillo Symphony and stamp that memory in your heart, mind and soul by attending the concerts as well.
As a post script, I will add that any factual errors in this article are mine alone.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Elise commentary: A Yellow City oasis
