Andrew Grams going patriotic with ESO this season
For his third season as Elgin Symphony Orchestra music director, Andrew Grams has put together a schedule that contains a blend of the familiar and not-so familiar — wrapped in red, white and blue.
The ESO's 2015-16 season was introduced by Grams at a special launch party for subscribers and donors Wednesday night at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin. The season will open at the Hemmens the weekend of Oct. 3-4 when renowned American cellist Lynn Harrell plays music by Tchaikovsky: The “Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra,” and the string orchestra-cello arrangement of “Andante Cantabile” from Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1 in D Major.
“We first worked together four or five years ago, and Lynn always said he wanted to work with my orchestra when I got one,” Grams said. “We've always kept in touch, and having his schedule being open in early October made it an absolute no-brainer to have him here for our season-opening concerts.”
The concert will open with American composer Charles Ives' celebratory “Variations on 'America',” an appropriate curtain-raiser to the ESO's season theme, “American connections.”
“We have something American on every single program,” said Grams, who will again be conducting seven of the season's subscription programs.
The 66th season will wind through the weekend of April 30 and May 1, 2016, when Grams conducts Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”), and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4, which both feature a soprano soloist in their finales.
Grams will also appear as violinist with the orchestra Jan. 8-10 when he joins ESO colleagues Isabella Lippi (violin) and Matthew Agnew (cello) in performances of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Arcangelo Corelli's Concerto Grosso, along with “Muse,” by American composer Christopher Theofanidis.
The music director's Jan. 30-31, 2016, concerts will pair Aaron Copland's ever-popular “Appalachian Spring” with Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (“The year 1905”).
ESO concertmaster Lippi will also be soloist for the Nov. 21-22 concerts in works by French composers Ernest Chausson and Hector Berlioz, with Grams also conducting Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 2. The American work on that concert is John Adams' “Tromba Lontana.”
In addition to Harrell and Lippi, guest soloists next season will include Chicago-area violinist Rachel Barton Pine, in concerts April 1-3, 2016, titled “A Tribute to Maud Powell.” One of America's finest turn-of-the-century violinists, Powell received her music education in Aurora, with Pine a staunch advocate in concerts and recordings.
Elgin Symphony resident conductor Stephen Squires will be on the podium for three programs, including “A Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration” on Feb. 12-14, 2016, and the annual holiday concerts on Dec. 12-13.
Ives will return to the Hemmens on March 12-13, 2016, when Grams conducts the Connecticut composer's Symphony No. 2, along with the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2.
“Ives, for me, is such a fascinating character because he played and was involved with music his entire life but was not a professional musician,” Grams said. “He took composition lessons in college but was basically self-taught. He based his voice mainly on his youthful experiences in church and the bands that his father conducted. Ives always has an element of humor, or poking fun at something, even in his more serious, dramatic works. For example, the second symphony is a very Brahms-Schumann-like symphony, but using American folk tunes and melodies.”
Renewal packets for season subscribers will be available at Sunday's “Much Ado About Music” concert at 2:30 p.m. and also mailed to current subscribers. Brochures for new subscribers will be available soon, with single-concert tickets to go on sale this summer. Call the box office at (847) 888-4000 or visit elginsymphony.org.