January 24-25
THE NOBLE SPIRIT
Saturday | 1.25.20 | 8:00 PM
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street
Join The Chelsea Symphony for its first concert of 2020, “The Noble Spirit” on January 24-25 at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Part of the fourteenth season RISE UP, this concert features the Fifth Symphony by Sergei Prokofiev, written during one month in the summer of 1944.
Intended as “a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit,” Prokofiev added, “I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul."
Also on this concert series: TCS’ first drumset concerto presentation, Just Say Yes, by Alexandra Gardner featuring Michael Blancaflor and Milhaud’s first cello concert with Kurt Behnke, both on Friday night’s performance. Saturday’s concert welcomes TCS board member Sara Dudley’s soloist debut on the William Walton viola concerto.
Both concerts open with Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music to commemorate their 75th anniversary. The composer described it as "the most cathartic thing [she] could have done” in memory of her younger brother, Andrew Blue Higdon, who died of skin cancer in 1998.
From the score:
I began writing this piece at a unique juncture in my life and found myself pondering the question of what makes a life. The recent loss of my younger brother, Andrew Blue, made me reflect on the amazing journeys that we all make in our lives, crossing paths with so many individuals singularly and collectively, learning and growing each step of the way. This piece represents the expression of the individual and the group... our inner travels and the places our souls carry us, the lessons we learn, and the growth we experience. In tribute to my brother, I feature solos for the clarinet (the instrument he played) and the flute (the instrument I play). Because I am the older sibling, it is the flute that appears first in this dialog. At the end of the work, the two instruments continue their dialogue, but it is the flute that drops out and the clarinet that continues on in the upward progressing journey.
Concert run time: 100 minutes including a 15-minute intermission
Know before you go
Program
blue cathedral
Viola Concerto
Concerto No. 1 for Violoncello and Orchestra, op. 136
Just Say Yes
Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, op. 100
Featured Artists
Percussionist Michael Blancaflor is an active performer, educator, and clinician in southern New England and the tristate areas. Originally from Berlin, CT, he received a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Connecticut at Storrs. His percussion teachers include Rich Baccaro, Peter Tanner, Thom Hannum, Bill Reynolds, Peter Coutsouridis, Mike Clark, Rosemary Small, and Alexander Lepak.
An active performer, Michael has played with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, the …
Kurt Behnke
Cello
Friday, 1.24
Darius Milhaud: Concerto No. 1 for Violoncello and Orchestra, op. 136
Kurt received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in cello performance from Indiana University, where he studied with Fritz Magg while attending the master classes of Janos Starker. Overseas study included a semester in Vienna at the Hochschule für Musik and Darstellende Kunst. He has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy, and the orchestra of the Graz Vocal Institute Festival in Graz, Austria. Kurt is a member of the Bear Valley Music Festival …
Sara Dudley is a violist and violinist from Nashville, Tennessee now residing in New York City. She began lessons at age five, which fostered her love for music and music education. After completing her bachelor’s degree in violin performance in 2018, Sara picked up the viola and immediately felt at home. She enjoys exploring the depth and color the viola has to offer. Sara holds a BM in Violin Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College. Her …
Conductor
A leader in the 21st century orchestral landscape, Dr. Matthew Aubin is constantly reaching new audiences through innovative performance formats and creative initiatives both on and off the podium.
The 2022-23 season kicks off Dr. Aubin’s inaugural year as Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra and serves as Artistic Director of The Chelsea Symphony. In his role at TCS, he has led highly visible collaborations with partners such …
Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. Ms. Flanders is currently the Director of Orchestral Activities at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU University Chamber Orchestra. From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting …