Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra
- Saturday, April 20, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013 - Old Cabell Hall
Monticello HS - 8:00pm
3:30pm - $10-38
$10-38
The Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra concludes its 2012-13 Let’s Dance! season on Saturday, April 20, 8:00 p.m., at Old Cabell Hall on the UVA Grounds, and Sunday, April 21, 3:30 p.m., at Monticello High School in Charlottesville.
Due to a family medical emergency, Kate Tamarkin, Music Director of the Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra, has withdrawn from the orchestra’s concerts. Benjamin Rous, Associate Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, will lead both performances.
Mr. Rous began his tenure with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and quickly became a favorite with audiences in Norfolk and the Hampton Roads region. He performs on every VSO series, including Classics, Pops, Young People’s Concerts, PB&J Family Concerts and multiple outdoor series. He has appeared in concert with, among others, the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa, Ontario), Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Illinois Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and on St. Louis’s Pulitzer Concerts with musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Prior posts include Assistant Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony where he led Symphony Connections, Classroom, Family and Outdoor concerts. He holds degrees from Harvard University where he served as Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra and the University of Michigan where he studied conducting and harpsichord. As a violinist, Rous recently performed in The Mahler Chamber Orchestra and in Orchestra Mozart under the batons of Claudio Abbado and Daniel Harding. He has played violin and viola in the Arcturus Chamber Ensemble in Massachusetts since 2000. His compositions have been performed by the Portland (ME) Youth Symphony, the New England Conservatory Preparatory String Orchestra and the Fromm Players at Harvard.
The weekend’s programs remain unchanged: John Adams’ The Chairman Dances (Foxtrot for Orchestra), Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with soloist Rob Patterson, Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Malambo from Estancia: Four Dances by South American composer Alberto Ginastera.
Rob Patterson, CUSO’s Principal Clarinet, will step out of the orchestra’s woodwind section to take center stage in the jazzy Copland Clarinet Concerto, written for the legendary Benny Goodman.
In addition to serving on the University of Virginia’s music faculty, Rob Patterson is also the clarinetist with the Opus 39 and VERGE ensembles. He performs with the Lyrique en Mer Festival in France, and is also a faculty member at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. His 2011 recording with pianist Audrey Andrist, entitled Gumbo, earned a Washington Area Music Association’s Wammy award for Best Classical Recording of the Year.
The Chairman Dances is an out take from John Adams’ opera, Nixon in China. “Dances” is used here as a verb, depicting a fox trot for Communist China’s Chairman Mao and Madame Mao.
Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story re-tells the timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet, set in New York City in the 1950s where rival gangs - the Jets from Manhattan and the Sharks from Puerto Rico - are determined to keep the young lovers apart.
The program concludes with Ginastera’s pulsating Malambo, capturing the macho energy of Argentinian gaucho dancing.
In a new collaboration, Terry Dean’s Ballroom Dance Studio will offer a demonstration during intermission at the Monticello High School concert.
Know the Score pre-concert lectures will be presented 45 minutes before each concert. Free of charge, these informative and entertaining lectures by McIntire Department of Music Chairman and Associate Professor of Music Richard Will offer both novice and experienced patrons a deeper appreciation of the performances. Saturday’s lecture will take place in Minor Hall; Sunday’s lecture will be held in the Forum at Monticello High School.
Free parking is available in the UVA Central Grounds Parking Garage, located on Emmet Street, on Saturday night and at the high school on Sunday afternoons. Both venues are wheelchair accessible.
Tickets are priced at $38, $30, $25 and $20 for adults, and $10 for students. UVA students may request one complimentary ticket in advance. Tickets may be purchased at The University of Virginia Arts Box Office, (434) 924-3376, 12:00-5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday in the lobby of the Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road, or on-line at www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu.
All University of Virginia employees are entitled to a 20% discount on tickets to individual performances. This offer does not apply to subscriptions or previously purchased tickets.
Holders of Public Broadcasting MemberCards are eligible for two-for-one admission on either concert date.