The Akron Symphony will celebrate its 60th anniversary season with the world premiere of Roger Zahab’s Akron Chronogram, a multimedia work created in collaboration with the Akron Art Museum; a first-time staging of a musical, the Tony Award-winning Titanic; and the showcasing of local soloists in World Class Begins at Home, among the season’s highlights.
Music director Christopher Wilkins said the season is about collaboration and highlighting musicians of all ages, types and backgrounds.
“We wanted to continue the energy of some of our community collaborations,” such as last season’s groundbreaking opera performance Porgy and Bess, he said.
“What characterizes the 60th anniversary in particular is a desire to showcase talent of all kinds throughout Akron, some of it an acknowledgment of our own legacy.”
For the World Class Begins at Home performance in January, teenage virtuosos Hannah Moses and Jessi Pasternak of Akron will perform on cello and viola with counterparts Michael DeBruyn and Zachary Collins, both principals in their 20s from the Akron Symphony. They will be featured in Bach’s Sixth Brandenburg Concerto.
Wilkins said Hannah, 16, and Jessi, 17, have both achieved fame both locally and nationally for their work and have won numerous music contests.
Hannah, who lives in Stow and is a home-schooled junior, is enrolled in the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music and is principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Jessi is a senior at Our Lady of the Elms and lives in Akron. She studies at CIM and is co-principal on viola with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra.
“They’re both dazzling virtuosos and you have to catch them quick. They emerge in their mid-teens and by their mid-20s they’re often gone” to other cities, Wilkins said.
The concert will highlight seven local players, including Akron Symphony veterans.
For the 60th anniversary concert in April, the Akron Art Museum and the orchestra will co-present Akron Chronogram, which brings together the work of video artist Laura Ruth Bidwell and composer Zahab, both Akron natives. The visual-musical performance will focus on Akron’s natural beauty and architectural history. Vioinist/composer/teacher Zahab’s world premiere composition will contain musical excerpts recognizing dozens of people who have been important to the symphony over the last 60 years.
The program will continue its audiovisual theme with Dave Brubeck’s Ansel Adams: America, featuring 100 photographs by the iconic photographer.
Another highlight will be the third visit by Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander, who will lead Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 on Nov. 12. Wilkins said Zander has made a huge impact on the Akron Symphony: “Ben, I think, represents what we’re all here for, what we’re making music for — to reach people deeply and give them inspired experiences that just otherwise aren’t available in life.”
The orchestra will perform Opera’s Greatest Moments in October, featuring Dina Kuznetsova in her Akron Symphony debut and local baritone Brian Keith Johnson. Soprano Kuznetsova is a Moscow native who lives in Akron and received her vocal training at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
“She’ll be a discovery for many in our audience,” Wilkins said. “She’s at the top.”
In another orchestra first, the symphony will stage its first Broadway musical, Titanic, on April 14, the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking. The orchestra plans to create an ensemble of 40 actor/singers through local casting, which will be a unique opportunity: “When do they ever get to work with a full symphony orchestra? Never,” Wilkins said.
The orchestra will revise Yeston’s score, which originally contained synthesized orchestral sounds to create the great symphonic Romantic English tradition of 1910 to 1912. The historical context from the 2007 musical also will be featured in outreach programs at schools.
Wrapping up other new fare will be the pops concert Wicked Divas Nov. 19, led by musical stars Stephanie J. Block and Julie Murney.
“I’m really excited about all of it,” Wilkins said of the 2011-12 season. “It’s driven by the fact we’re playing great music with a first-rate orchestra.”
SEASON SCHEDULE
Sept. 17, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall — Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60; Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture; and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39. Christopher Wilkins, conductor.
Oct. 15, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Soprano Dina Kuznetsova, baritone Brian Keith Johnson and the Akron Symphony Chorus. Opera’s Greatest Moments, including the William Tell Overture and the storm scene from Verdi’s Otello. Christopher Wilkins, conductor; Maria Sensi Sellner, director, Akron Symphony Chorus.
Nov. 12, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Benjamin Zander will lead the symphony and pianist George Li in Ben, Beethoven and Brahms, featuring Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture in C minor, Op. 62, and Concerto for Piano No. 4 in G major, Op. 58; and Brahms, Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.
Nov. 13, 3 p.m., Barberton High School — Levi Hammer conducts the Akron Youth Symphony, featuring Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia; Schubert’s Rosamunde, D 797/Op. 26; Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36; Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture in B minor, Op. 26 Fingal’s Cave; and Holst’s The Planets, Op. 32/H 125.
Nov. 19, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Stephanie J. Block and Julia Murney perform Wicked Divas, including songs from The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Ragtime, Spamalot, The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Christopher Wilkins, conductor.
Dec. 16, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Carl Topilow of the Cleveland Pops leads the Akron Symphony Orchestra for Holiday Pops. Maria Sensi Sellner, director, Akron Symphony Chorus.
Jan. 21, 2012, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — World Class Begins at Home to feature Jody Guinn, harp; Cynthia Warren, English horn; Scott Johnston, trumpet; Zachary Collins, viola; Jessi Pasternak, viola; Michael DeBruyn, cello; and Hannah Moses, cello. Christopher Wilkins to conduct Copland’s Quiet City; Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profane; Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 in D major, K 385; Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051; and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite.
Feb. 12, 2012, 3 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Levi Hammer will conduct and play piano for the Akron Youth Symphony Winter Concert, featuring Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune; Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 102; and Copland’s Rodeo.
Feb. 18, 2012, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Christopher Wilkins will conduct and Maria Sensi Sellner will direct the Akron Symphony Chorus with the program Ode to Joy, featuring Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80; Beethoven’s Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Op. 112 (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage); and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 “Choral.”
Feb. 25, 2012, 7:30 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Christopher Wilkins will conduct and Jennifer Mekel Jones will direct the Akron Symphony Gospel Choir for Gospel Meets Symphony.
March 17, 2012, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — John Morris Russell will conduct the orchestra and Chad Hoopes on violin with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture in B minor Op. 26 Fingal’s Cave; Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 Pathétique.
March 31, 2012, 7:30 p.m., Medina Performing Arts Center — Levi Hammer will lead the Akron Youth Symphony and Damon D. Conn and Thomas Resnick will conduct the Greater Akron Youth Philharmonic for Akron Youth Orchestras: Side-By-Side. Program to be announced.
April 14, 2012, 8 p.m., Akron Civic Theatre — Christopher Wilkins will conduct the Akron Symphony in Maury Yeston and Peter Stone’s Titanic. Cast to be announced.
April 21, 2012, 8 p.m., E.J. Thomas — Christopher Wilkins will conduct American Visions: 60th Anniversary Concert, featuring the world premiere of Roger Zahab’s Akron Chronogram, Dave Brubeck’s Ansel Adams: America; and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95/B 178 From the New World.
April 22, 2012, 3 p.m., St. Sebastian Church — Maria Sensi Sellner will conduct the Akron Symphony Chorus, including Rutter’s Gloria; Finzi’s Magnificat for Choir and Organ/Orchestra, Op. 36; and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
April 29, 2012, 3 p.m., E. J. Thomas — Levi Hammer will conduct the Akron Youth Symphony, including Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.
Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
