Symphony orchestra showcases 4 high school students in February concert
The Butler County Symphony Orchestra blended the serene lows and intense highs of classical and contemporary American music in its program “Voices of America: From Within and Afar,” performed Saturday night, Feb. 7, at Butler Intermediate High School.
The entire program demonstrated a mastery of building tension in music through multiple ways, such as quick violin fluttering and triumphant bass and brass, which kept the intensity from becoming overbearing or boring and balanced it with refreshing moments of serenity.
Conductor Moon Doh began the concert with an intimate piece featuring only brass and percussion, titled “Fanfare for Uncommon Times,” by Valerie Coleman.
Doh said the piece and smaller ensemble allowed musicians to demonstrate their individual sounds. The smaller ensemble also eased the listener into the pace and excitement of the entire symphony orchestra.
But, the smaller ensemble doesn’t mean a gentler introduction. Coleman wrote the piece in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and protests surrounding racial injustice, which Coleman seems to draw inspiration from for the “uncommon” sound.
Instead of beginning with the triumphant trumpets of a typical fanfare, it begins with a steady Doppler trombone tone that turns the mood uneasy before a buildup full of bass into high trumpets. The opening piece certainly subverts expectations for a night at the symphony orchestra.
Ferde Grofé’s “Mississippi Suite” featured four high school students playing with the entire symphony orchestra as part of its Side-By-Side Honors Program. The students featured were violin player Lena Mai Grafton from Knoch School District, viola player Charley Shipley from Seneca Valley School District, violin player Morgan Bradley from Beaver Area School District and cello player Olivia Scanlon from North Allegheny School District.
The piece included four distinct movements that symbolize a journey on the Mississippi River. The first eased listeners in with brass and timpani building into what sounds like the opening scene of a movie peering through a sea of heavenly clouds or walking into a lush garden.
The second movement felt straight out of an old adventure cartoon. It was fast, mischievous and intense with dramatic calls and responses between the brass and strings. It continually built tension throughout before the third movement, “Olde Creole Days,” brought reprieve with peaceful, dreamlike sequences. Written all around the piece is the type of violin fluttering that looks more like a hand twitch then a deliberate motion.
“Mardi Gras” wrapped up the piece with the serenity of the third movement building into an energetic section with a triplet feel with several changes in pacing.
The third piece, “Hiraeth,” was alone worth the price of admission. The Welsh word best translates in English to a “nostalgic feeling of longing and homesickness,” and Welsh composer Katie Jenkins balanced the feeling with the bustle of New York City jazz.
Jenkins was in the audience Saturday night for the second ever performance of her piece.
The piece sounded exactly as Jenkins described, blending longing and determination. The melancholic melodies began in the strings before sinking into the depressed low brass, but the melancholy was interrupted by bright spots of whimsical auxiliary percussion and what felt like a prideful declaration of belonging in the U.S.
The concert finished with four movements of Antonín Dvorák’s “Symphony No. 9. From the New World,” which is one of the most frequently performed symphonies worldwide — for good reason. The dramatic first movement between the strings, timpani and brass paved the way for a serene, lulled second movement where the crescendos feel quick and almost unexpected.
The movement created contrast between the soft violins and plucking double basses that built into an underscoring of brass present in all four movements. The movement also incorporates moments of silence, which some would say is more important to music than the notes themselves.
The energetic beginning of the third movement compared to the second can make you jump, if you’re not looking. The quick, precise strings seem friendly and inviting at first until the brass and percussion build the intensity. The fourth movement balanced the entire piece allowing for more space between the notes and built to a satisfying finish.
The symphony orchestra will perform its next concert titled “Crossroads of Sound” March 7 at Butler Intermediate High School.
