Contrasts
The theme for the 2009-2010 season is Contrasts. Each concert will explore contrasts, some very clearly delineated and others more obscure.
This year’s opening concert in October is dedicated again to Daniel Pearl and Harmony for Humanity. The tragedy of Daniel Pearl’s murder becomes an affirmation of life and humanity embodied in the observance of Daniel Pearl World Music Days. The cycle of death and new life is repeated through Haydn’s death in 1809 and Mendelssohn’s birth the same year. Contrasts in composition balance Haydn’s Classical forms with Glazunov’s late romantic expressions. It all begins with Marguerite Salajko, a 2009 YAC soloist playing the first movement of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C. Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide initiates the transition to romanticism which is followed by Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. Finally, Glazunov’s ballet music, “Autumn” from the Four Seasons completes the transition from classical through romantic composers.
In December the world of music and dance are juxtaposed in an adventure new to the Civic Orchestra of Tucson. For the first time, COT will provide live ballet music for Dancing in the Streets Arizona’s production of Tchaikovsky’s magical ballet The Nutcracker. In addition to the ballet performance, the orchestra will present a preview at Rio Vista Elementary School which will include other holiday music from around the world.
In February, two violins Linda Rosenthal and her husband Paul contrast not only the sounds of violins, but also begin to distinguish the Old World from the New, by playing German composer Luis Spohr’s Concertante in b minor. Argentine Alberto Ginastera’s Overture to Creole Faust, introduces sounds of the New World while Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony is the bridge between the rhythms of the two worlds.
Finally, this spring’s pop season will feature concerts at two different Robson Active Retirement Communities—SaddleBrooke and Quail Creek, as well as Reid Park.
The Civic Orchestra of Tucson presents its All American Concerts featuring well-known compositions of America’s greatest composers. It is the kind of concert guaranteed that you will have plenty of melodies that you will be whistling in the car on your way home. The composers represented (in alphabetical order) include Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland. Also included are Morton Gould, Charles Ives, and John Phillip Sousa.
These concerts will also feature a Civic Orchestra of Tucson Young Artist Competition winner playing one movement of a well-known concerto. Competition takes place in February 2010. We cannot guarantee that the composer will be American, but we can guarantee that you will be amazed by the talent and energy these young artists bring to the concert hall.
Join us for an evening of wonderful music that will send you home whistling and singing.