This is an especially important event for our orchestra – the last regular season concert to be conducted by founder and Music Director Emily Ray. Maestra Ray formed the orchestra in 1996, and since then she's led it in programs featuring a breathtaking array of works from well-loved classics to world premiere performances.
This concert is no exception in its range – you'll hear Beethoven's intense and dramatic Leonore Overture no. 3, an orchestral distillation of his opera Fidelio. This is the first of the tales of Love and Bravery that give the concert its title. The young noblewoman Leonore disguises herself as a boy to access the fortress where her political-prisoner husband Florestan is in chains. She uses her cunning and the power of love to rescue him. Beethoven's music depicts the darkness of the dungeon, the gleams of light and hope as Leonore finds Florestan, and finally celebrates the triumph of justice over tyranny – Beethoven's core beliefs portrayed in his music.
The second tale of Love and Bravery is Ghost of the White Deer - a romantic and dramatic Bassoon Concerto by composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, who is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. The work was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2020. It is based on Chickasaw tradition, depicting the legend of two young Chickasaw people in love, and a tragic quest for the sacred white deer. Revered Bay Area master of the bassoon, Rufus Olivier, Jr. joins the orchestra as soloist. The virtuosic solo part represents all the characters of the tale, especially the calling of the elusive white deer.
You'll also hear Symphonic Variations on an African Air by the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the son of an English mother and an African-American father, who was born in 1875. Despite racial barriers he became a successful and prominent composer in the 1900s, even getting to meet President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House during a tour of America. Like many of his works, the piece represents his integration of African traditions with Western classical music.
Completing the program is the Symphony no. 1 by American composer Peter Boyer. Premiered in 2013, the symphony is a tribute to Leonard Bernstein, filled with soaring themes and propulsive rhythms. It's a work Maestra Ray has wanted to conduct since she first heard it, making it a fitting conclusion for this concert and this season.
The concert venue has free parking (park in Lot A) and offers comfortable seating for all Maestra Ray's many fans to experience the last subscription concert she will conduct with MCOSJ.