MSU Symphony Orchestra announces 2010-11 season

Contact: Kathleen Adams, (517) 353-9958, adamsk10@msu.edu

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra announces its 2010-11 season, which promises an exciting, diverse repertoire and renowned guest artists – all notable soloists who perform with major orchestras.

Maestro Leon Gregorian, music director-conductor of MSU orchestras, promises high quality performances from the 110-member ensemble made up of the top student musicians in the College of Music.

“When people come and hear this orchestra play,” Gregorian says, “if they close their eyes, they will not know that young people are playing. We don’t play miniatures. We play the same repertoire that the big orchestras in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Boston play. We may have more rehearsals, but that’s the advantage of being a first-class university ensemble. We certainly have the talent.”

The diverse repertoire includes classics by Beethoven, Debussy, Bartok, Brahms, and Saint-Saëns as well as two world premiere concertos.

MSU Symphony Orchestra lineup includes:
Concert 2: Friday, October 22, 2010, 8 p.m., Wharton Center, Leon Gregorian, conductor Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, one of four overtures that Beethoven wrote for Fidelio, opens the concert representing the composer’s heroic introduction to his only opera about love’s triumph over injustice and oppression.

Guest artist Roberto Diaz, formerly the principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and current president of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, will join the orchestra to perform a world premiere viola concerto. Written for Diaz by MSU’s Ricardo Lorenz, associate professor of composition, the new piece entitled Canciones de Jara, or Jara’s Songs, adds something substantial to the slim repertoire for solo viola, says Gregorian. Lorenz says he seeks to capture the spirit of the late Chilean singer/songwriter Victor Jara's beautiful melodies and socially driven lyrics in this new composition.

Ravel’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition closes the concert. Ravel’s interpretation of this signature piece is considered one of the greatest orchestrations ever done for any given work, says Gregorian. “It’s a jewel.”