Duke Ellington Big Band at the Pacific Symphony May 16-18

In an ongoing quest to make new musical discoveries through its acclaimed American Composers Festival (ACF), Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, on May 16, 17 and 18 will celebrates the music of two seemingly disparate figures, representing past and present: the iconic Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974) and living saxophonist-composer Daniel Schnyder, neither of whom fit neatly into a single musical category.

ACF, an annual celebration of American composers, seems somehow incomplete without the inclusion of Ellington, whose works have inspired countless composers and musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries—including Schnyder. This year, the Symphony doesn’t just refer to Ellington, but presents the ensemble that carries his name and has been playing together in one form or another for more than eight decades; the other half of the equation is this year’s ACF composer-in-residence Schnyder—both of whom defy definition.

“A couple of summers ago when I performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, I fell in love with it—the musicians, their love and enthusiasm for music,” says Maestro St.Clair, giving light to the festival. “I immediately began searching for an opportunity to work with them again. Our American Composers Festival is the perfect opportunity.”

“Schnyder is a composer who, though steeped in classical traditions, has created musical language that crosses many musical boundaries and genres,” says St.Clair. “This is also evident in the repertoire selected for the first half [all composed or arranged by Schnyder], which encompasses reflections of the great Duke Ellington, tributes to the immortal Jimi Hendrix and to the instrument, the bass trombone. And all of this really only covers a portion of the breadth of Schnyder’s musical language—all of which he feels at home within. Like Duke Ellington, Schnyder is a virtuoso performer—and as performers both composers gained distinct insight into writing for ensembles.”

The program will include “Martin Luther King” from “Three Black Kings,” which was Ellington’s last composition, one left unfinished at the time of his death in 1974. For the posthumous Lincoln Center premiere in 1976, Ellington’s son, Mercer Ellington, completed the score and Alvin Ailey created the choreography. The title refers to three important African American historical figures: King Balthazar, King Solomon and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, introduced Ailey’s “Three Black Kings” when it premiered at the Lincoln Center festival celebrating Ellington.

The concert opens with the spotlight on Schnyder. “No less than Ellington, Schnyder is a gifted performer and improviser (on the saxophone),” says Horowitz. “Like Ellington, he espouses multiple musical worlds. He is an omnivorous creator, drawing on Renaissance polyphony, Schubert and Mahler, Ellington and Gershwin, Arabia and Africa.”

The Symphony then performs an arrangement by Schnyder of Jimi Hendrix’ (1942-1970) Variations on “Purple Haze”—a piece that has, frankly, become known as one of the archetypical psychedelic drug songs of the ’60s. Hendrix claimed the piece was inspired by a dream where he was walking under the sea where a purple haze surrounded him, engulfed him and made him feel lost and traumatized. Hendrix claimed it had nothing to do with drugs, but of course few deny that Hendrix was indeed using plenty of drugs at the time.

While “In a Sentimental Mood” has sophisticated chord changes, in Schnyder’s hands “’Purple Haze’ doesn’t really have any chord changes. “It’s just a rhythm and the idea of blues…” he says. “And with the brutality of this music—(it’s about) how to write for orchestra and retain raw expression. My arrangement has fugues and canons. You can do all these things because the piece is so raw, so bare, that it’s an open playing field.”

Segerstrom Hall holds ‘Rite of Spring’ 100th anniversary June 6 – 8

With the arrival of the centennial of Stravinsky’s iconic masterwork, a reverberation of celebration can be heard around the symphonic world and Pacific Symphony is no exception, offering a variety of activities from June 6 through June 8. In conceiving “The Rite of Spring,” Stravinsky broke all the rules and defied convention, and it is very much in this spirit that the Symphony approaches its celebration culminating with a party on the arts plaza, featuring the Symphony’s second “Inside and Out” Plazacast and Community Celebration with a free live simulcast of the concert projected onto the wall of Segerstrom Hall.

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the festival also includes: The Sacre Project, part art installation, part performance piece, a cross-disciplinary project created by artists from UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts; the ReRite Project (remix, reinterpret and/or reimagine!), a call for artworks of all kinds (art, music, dance); video dance booth; and, of course, concerts led by Music Director Carl St.Clair featuring the provocative work itself.

“The premiere of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ was one of the most important moments in all of music history,” says Music Director Carl St.Clair. “It is a work that literally single- handedly changed the course of music. It will be a riveting way to finish the Symphony’s season.”

Considered one of the most significant and influential classical composers of the 20th century, Stravinsky (1882–1971) experimented with a number of styles over the course of his career, with innovation always an integral component of his work. He saw a great deal of change in music throughout his lifetime; as a child, he witnessed Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conduct and yet also lived to witness the break-up of The Beatles!

‘The Rite of Spring’ depicts an ancient pagan ritual sacrifice, which culminates with a young girl dancing herself to death.
Inside the concerts: The festival of events centers around performances of the composer’s provocative “The Rite of Spring” (last performed by the orchestra in 2008), led by Maestro St.Clair, on Thursday-Saturday, June 6-8, at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (preview talk with Alan Chapman beginning at 7 p.m.).

Arrive early (5 p.m.) and enjoy activity booths and a slate of community ensembles performing on the arts plaza. For more information, call (714) 755-5799 or visit PacificSymphony.org.

Schedule Of Events
5 p.m.: Food trucks and activity booths open
5:10-5:25 p.m.: Fortunates Woodwind Quartet
5:30-5:50 p.m.: Laguna Flutes
6-6:35 p.m.: Helix Collective
6:45-7 p.m.: Santa Ana Strings
7 p.m.: Alan Chapman Preview (in hall)
7 p.m.: The Sacre Project (Samueli)
7:30 p.m.: Rich Capparela preview (plaza)
8 p.m.: Concert (in hall)/Plazacast (on plaza) begins

Grammy winner Paul Jacob performs for the Pacific Symphony May 2-4.
Photo courtesy of Pacific Symphony

The mighty forces of the William J. Gillespie concert organ pair with fleeting violin passages and an orchestral rhapsody during Pacific Symphony’s “Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony,” featuring music by the French Romantics. The concert is taking place Thursday through Saturday, May 2-4 at 8 p.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $25-$112, which includes a preview talk with Alan Chapman.

Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs returns for a reprise of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, “Organ.” (Jacobs played the same piece in 2008 to inaugurate the $3.1-million organ.) Led by 24-year-old guest conductor and rising star Aziz Shokhakimov, the concert also features the Symphony debut of violin soloist Tianwa Yang. Although the piece is referred to as a “symphony,” it is widely considered a concerto and is also said to have inspired Tchaikovsky to write his own wildly popular Violin Concerto in D Major.

In September 2010, was awarded the Best Solo Instrumental Grammy of the Year, the first time a disc of solo organ music has ever received this honor. Jacobs made musical history at the age of 23 when he played J.S. Bach’s complete organ works in an 18-hour marathon performance on the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. He recently reached the milestone of having performed in each of the 50 United States.

The remarkable conductor Aziz Shokhakimov burst on the scene just three years ago at the age of just 21 by astounding audiences in Bamberg, where he was awarded second prize at the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition under the auspices of the Bamberger Symphoniker. Shokhakimov has since made several triumphant debuts: in Germany with the Staatskapelle Dresden; in Italy with the Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna and in Poland with the highly acclaimed Sinfonia Varsovia. He made his American debut with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra in the 2012-13 season.

“This program features our wonderful William J. Gillespie C.B. Fisk Opus 130 Organ,” says Music Director Carl St.Clair. “We’re really happy that we can from time to time allow our audiences to hear this magnificent organ. It’s also wonderful to have a friend such as Paul, who knows the instrument so well and can allow us to experience its greatness.”

The Organ Symphony’s haunting opening does little to reveal the grandiosity of what’s to come and instead begins with a rising four-note figure that evolves into a much quicker Allegro development. The tension dwindles into a slower, melodic section that finally introduces the organ in an unexpected way: tranquil.

It isn’t until the fourth movement when the true power and might of the organ shines through. Audiences may recognize this climactic moment from the family film, “Babe”; a melody that Saint-Saëns called “the defeat of the restless, diabolical element,” which leads to “the blue of a clear sky.” 

While France is the birth-place of all the composers featured in this concert, Spain is what inspires the first half of the program. The foot-stamping rhythms and flamenco-inspired beats of Chabrier’s “España” set the tone, followed by Lalo’s violin showcase “Symphonie Espagnole.”

After its premiere in 1875 by violin virtuoso Pablo Sarasate, Tchaikovsky wrote that “the work has given me great enjoyment. It is so fresh and light, and contains piquant rhythms and melodies which are beautifully harmonized. Lalo is careful to avoid all that is routinier, seeks new forms without trying to be profound, and is more concerned with musical beauty than with traditions.”

Neither Spanish nor a symphony, the music offers plenty of fiery spice and a young violin talent in Yang is here to tame it with authority.

For more information or to purchase tickets call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.