First, it is a great honor and pleasure to serve as the new music director for this fantastic organization and this community. I eagerly look forward to sharing many musical moments with all of our neighbors and friends.
For our opening concert, we are embracing works that speak to the spirit; together we’ll encounter an array of raw emotions, and while the music will evoke a unique experience for each individual, it is sure to lead us together to a unified sentiment of hope.
To set the mood for the evening, we will start with a piece filled with a gorgeous melancholy, the Adagio from the ballet “Gayane” by Khachaturian. Personally, I find this piece to be very fascinating. Despite its simplicity, quiet dynamics, and a minimalist usage of the instruments for which it’s scored, it still has a very powerful influence and engenders a great sense of sadness. The music was set to bring solace to “Gayane,” as at this point in the ballet she had learned that her husband was a horrible human being. I hope our audience members will find comfort listening to the ethereal delicacy of this piece while collectively sharing an exquisite sense of solitude.
Similarly emotive, the Elgar cello concerto brings a mixture of emotions that transition from despondency to freedom from the soul’s relentless search for meaning. This music reflects the persistent struggle that Elgar endured as an artist. While he had sporadic moments of prominence in the music scene, they didn’t last long, and by the end of his career he was regarded as an “old-fashioned” composer.
This, however, didn’t stop him from writing one of the most iconic works ever written for the cello literature. I am delighted that our orchestra will collaborate with such a fascinating artist as Nathan Chan, the third cello and youngest musician in the Seattle Symphony.
Speaking from my heart and my personal vision of life, it doesn’t matter how big our afflictions or how hopeless we are at various times; the sun still rises, emerging as a sign of hope and to give us new meaning in life. I have no doubt that this program represents — in one way or another — the emotional tones that shape both our individual experiences and shared humanity. Brahms’ second symphony comes to remind us that there is something better that awaits every one of us. This symphony answers all of my questions, dispels all of my fears, and makes me feel gratefully alive.
Mario Alejandro Torres is music director and conductor for the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra.
BSO presents ‘Emergence’
“Emergence” — the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra’s opening concerts — are set to comfort, welcome and delight. The concert opens with the soothing and warmhearted Gayane’s Adagio by Aram Khachaturian, from his ballet “Gayane.” Nathan Chang then joins the stage to perform Elgar’s captivating Cello Concerto in E minor, one of the most important pieces in the cello literature. The concert concludes with Brahms’ most endearing symphony, Symphony No. 2 in D major.
Split performances are 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11 (a pre-concert chat is 2:15 p.m. Sunday).
Tickets are $21 for adults, and $18 for seniors, students, military and teachers; each youth receives free admission when accompanied by a paying adult. Get tickets at 206-842-8569 or www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org.
