Park ICM Orchestra with Maestra Barbara Yahr, Presented by Park University
Schedule
Fri Apr 19 2024 at 07:30 pm
Location
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel at Park University | Kansas City, KS
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The Orchestra of the International Center for Music at Park University will present its final concert of the 2023-24 season on Friday, April 19th at the charming Chapel on campus in Parkville, Missouri. The evening program, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will be under the direction of guest conductor Barbara Yahr, now in her twentieth year as music director of the Greenwich Village Orchestra of New York, and who is making her first appearance with the ICM Orchestra. Maestra Yahr has selected a program of works by Jan Sibelius, Karl Stamitz and Felix Mendelssohn.Finnish composer Jan Sibelius is known mostly for his symphonies, tone poems, and Violin Concerto, all of which conjure up images of vast Scandinavian vistas with much of the music based on Finnish historical subject matter and folklore. However, he also wrote a great deal of solo songs, incidental music for plays, chamber music, piano works, and much choral music; truly, a treasure-trove worth investigating! The Andante Festivo heard in this concert, originally scored for string quartet and later revised for string orchestra, stands in stark contrast to his larger works due to its smaller size and shorter duration. It was, however, a great favorite of the composer, being played on New Year’s Day in a 1939 worldwide broadcast, and also performed later at the composer’s funeral.
The early development of the orchestra found its greatest leader in Johann Stamitz, who in the 1740’s brought the court orchestra in Mannheim, Germany to an unprecedented level of precision and musicianship; so brilliant was this ensemble, that the English music historian Charles Burney dubbed them “an army of generals.” But it was Johann’s son Karl Stamitz who provided the music world with the first great viola concerto of the Classical period, and who thereby brought the viola forth from its somewhat understated role in the orchestral harmony. This Concerto in D Major’s solo viola part will be performed by the ICM Orchestra’s principal violist Christian Dos Santos.
Felix Mendelssohn’s music is some of the most familiar among all composers; his symphonies, chamber music, piano works and choral pieces are well known to performers and audiences alike. Mendelssohn’s style maintains the use of Classical forms but infuses them with some of the deepest and most descriptive of Romantic ideas. This combination reaches perhaps its greatest height in the Symphony No.3, known as the “Scottish,” and will be heard as the conclusion to this concert. While not intended as an actual musical description of Scotland, it certainly encapsulates the many moods and impressions of the Scottish landscape, notably heard in the brooding introduction, folksong-like scherzo, and brilliant finale. This symphony evokes the very essence of Mendelssohn’s journey to Scotland, and serves as a fitting conclusion to the entire 2023-2024 season of the ICM Orchestra.
Though tickets are free, reservations are required.
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Where is it happening?
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel at Park University, Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, MO-9, Kansas City, MO 64152, United States,Parkville, MissouriEvent Location & Nearby Stays: