Young musicians compete in Sinfonietta Bel Canto’s Concerto Finals
The Sinfonietta Bel Canto is hosting its annual Concerto Finalists Competition for young musicians on Sunday, Jan. 26.
The orchestra also will feature works by Ravel in its celebration of his 150th birthday. The concert will be at 4 p.m. at the beautiful and acoustically pleasing St. Paul United Church of Christ in Downers Grove.
Ticket information can be found through the SBC website: sinfoniettabelcanto.org or calling (630) 384-5007. Parking is free and there is ample intimate seating.
Enjoy this wonderful display of area talent. The finalists for this competition are strings/harp category: cellists Heidi Huntington and John Mangum and violinist Aki Santibanez; Senior Piano: Kenta Bolado, Micah Chan, and Emily Hu; and Junior Piano: Sebastian Lin and Drake Wunderlich.
All finalists are age 18 or younger. Finalists will be competing for cash prizes of $150 in each of their categories, as well as a $100 audience favorite award.
Under the baton of Maestro Dan D’Andrea, the orchestra will perform Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante défunte” (1899) and “Le Tombeau de Couperin” (1914-1917). Both works are examples of Ravel making orchestral versions of the original piano composition.
“Le Tombeau de Couperin” (“The Grave of Couperin”) is a suite in four movements and is based on a traditional Baroque suite. Ravel produced this orchestral version in 1919, with each movement dedicated to the memory of a friend of the composer who had died fighting in World War I.
“Pavane pour une infante défunte” (“Pavane for a Dead Princess”) was written in 1899 while Ravel was studying at the Conservatoire de Paris. Ravel published the orchestral version in 1910. The piece depicted a pavane as it would be danced by an Infanta found in a painting by Diego Velazquez.
The work features the horn in a distant melody and shows clean melodic contours and classical structure.
This program is partially supported by grants from Arts DuPage (DuPage Foundation), the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.