On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Val A. Browning Center’s Austad Auditorium, the Weber State Symphony Orchestra (WSSO) will perform its annual spring concert. On Feb. 27, Thomas Root’s Wind Ensemble will perform in the Browning Center’s Allred Theater at 7:30 p.m.
WSSO is led by Francisco de Galvez, director of orchestral studies at Weber State University. WSSO’s upcoming concert repertoire is three pieces: the overture for “L’italiana in Algeri” by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor; Op. 26“ by romantic composer Max Bruch, and “Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major“ by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The “L’italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”) overture “is light and even funny sometimes,” de Galvez said. “It’s a short kind of piece . . . like an appetizer.”
He said the Bruch concerto “is very sentimental.” The piece features guest soloist Fabian Lopez on violin. “It is a favorite for violinists because the violin shows a lot of its qualities in this concert.”
The third and final piece of the concert is Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 4,” sometimes nicknamed “The Destiny Symphony.” According to de Galvez, the work was a turning point in Beethoven’s symphony production.
“It was very avant garde for its time,” de Galvez said. “It’s a challenge for any symphony in the world.”
The WSSO concert has approximately 70 minutes of music, with an intermission after the first two pieces.
“(‘Symphony No. 4’) has a powerful sound that gives me chills,” said Marianne Asmus, WSSO concertmaster and string pedagogy major at WSU. “It has qualities that excite the listener as well as the performer.”
The WSU Wind Ensemble concert will feature four pieces: “Overture for Band, Op. 24” by Felix Mendelssohn and arranged with modern orchestration by Robert Garofalo, the first three movements of “Symphony for Band” by Vincent Persichetti, “Alleluia” by Samuel Hazo and “Concertino Caboclo” by Jess Langston Turner.
Mendelssohn’s “Overture for Band” is about 10 minutes long. “It’s a wonderful piece,” said Root, director of the WSU Wind Ensemble.
The “Symphony for Band” piece was first performed in 1956 in St. Louis, Mo.
“This is probably one of my favorites of the whole repertoire,” Root said. “It’s an amazingly tightly written symphony. This piece is actually one of the reasons I went into music. It has such an impressive sound, and I remember being completely enamored with the sound that I heard.”
“Alleluia” is a piece Root said is not easy, but expressive of the composer’s deep religious impulses.
The performance of “Concertino Coboclo” will feature internationally known flute and piccolo soloist Tadeu Coelho.
“Pieces for flute and band are very rare,” Root said. However, after listening to the piece, Root realized “what a wonderful piece it was . . . This piece is written in such a way that it compliments (Coelho’s) performance and ours as well.”
Tickets and additional information are available at www.weberstatetickets.com or 801-626-7000.
