Maestro Class brings masterful control of dynamics, special treat

Let the festivities continue!

The Oak Ridge Symphony and Chorus are back again, this time with visual arts in the lobby. The audience seemed to be as excited as I was to hear the variety of music selections picked by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association (ORCMA) music director candidate finalists, and to check out their skills at conducting. We can also infer their inclinations for programming.

Kevin Class, currently opera theater director at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, was our second candidate of the four finalists.

The first piece on the program was Joseph Bologne’s Symphony in D Major, and it was a great way to start: lots of energy.

Next came a bouncy fun piece: the Italian Serenade by Hugo Wolf. Then came some good variety - going from that to a very quiet one: “Rest,” by Frank Ticheli. What was there not to like about “Rest,” the piece that peacefully and calmly put us at ease? It was subtle in its crescendos and decrescendos, like a big sea of string instruments calmly chatting.

By then it was evident that a hallmark of Maestro Class is his masterful control of dynamics, and his selections that allowed demonstration of this quality over a wide range. The way he described features of these and other pieces to everyone in the audience was helpful as well. These included Menotti’s “Preludio,” and “Starburst” by Jessie Montgomery. That one depicted a great big bang, but it didn't quite burst like expected for a galaxy-altering event.

A special treat resulted from Maestro Class’ fondness for Filipino music. I had tracked this unknown one down on YouTube in advance: “Suscipe” – from the soundtrack to the film “Ignacio de Loyola,” by Ryan Cayabyab. The accompanying displays were beautiful and artistic, including a screen full of individuals singing. Very effective! The ORCMA version with just chorus and orchestra, likely the first U.S. performance, was done beautifully.

George Frederic Handel’s Zadok the Priest has been performed at every British coronation since Handel’s time. Maestro Class’ selection of that piece for this concert was made before Queen Elizabeth died, which shows remarkable foresight on his part. This performance featured director Brenda Luggie’s Oak Ridge Chorus. Fortunately, Class was able to restrain the orchestra's exuberance so the nice-sounding chorus was heard.

The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was clearly the audience favorite, mainly because the soloist was out of this world. William Shaub is concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Due to the remarkable skills of both the composer and the soloist, it really did bring the house down. The standing ovation was inevitable.

With just two of the four contestants heard so far, it appears that momentum is building due to the high quality we have seen. This makes us hopeful that ORCMA is due a bright future for not only this year ... but well beyond. The more we hear the more we want to hear. Isn't that exciting?

Becky Ball is a longtime music reviewer for The Oak Ridger.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Maestro Class brings masterful control of dynamics, special treat