Minnesota Sinfonia: experience it on Jan. 9
-- Torlief Sorenson
Jay Fishman wants as many kids, families and adults as possible to appreciate old and new classical music.
That’s right—new classical music. Hardly a ‘dead’ genre, it is overflowing with material – from the music for the animated film A Bug’s Life to the new “Great Winter Festival Overture,” a recently-completed composition by Stephen Dankner (b.1944).
Fishman knows all about Dankner’s overture. After all, he and the Minnesota Sinfonia commissioned this piece and they will premiere it at Metropolitan State University. The concert will take place in the Founders Hall Auditorium on Friday evening, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
This concert is free, just like all of the concerts the Sinfonia have performed since 1989.
Back then, when Fishman and other musicians created what is now the Minnesota Sinfonia, they decided that a central part of their mission would be to make their concerts accessible for young children, people with limited financial means and inner-city youth. This includes (but is not limited to) the Sinfonia’s clinics and concerts in schools around the Twin Cities, where many educators really appreciate the pre-teaching materials and the CDs the orchestra includes in advance of their in-school concerts.
As for that concert on Jan. 9, Dankner’s Overture, a homage to Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), will present a refreshing contrast to the snow outside. If you (or someone you know) play or appreciate the clarinet or oboe, the melodies they play may be worth the price of admission alone. (Keep in mind, the concert is free.)
Speaking of melody, Antonín Dvorák wrote so many gorgeous melodies that quite a few composers who came after him would love to have the ones Dvorák discarded. If you’re not already familiar with his Violin Concerto, spend part of a Friday letting violinist Kyoko Takezawa introduce you to this music—especially the beautiful second movement, which may very well stay in your head long after the concert is over.
Far from being a no-name musician, Takezawa has played literally all over the world, and her recordings on the RCA Red Seal label have been praised even by some of the pickiest critics. Concert-goers routinely pay considerable amounts of money to her play with many of the major orchestra around the world. (But you can hear her with the Minnesota Sinfonia on Jan. 9—for free.)
Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 is widely known as his ‘Italian’ symphony and it reeks wonderfully of the thick flavor of Italy—one reason it is among Mendelssohn’s most famous and beloved compositions. If you are relatively (or even completely) new to classical music, this would be a very accessible introduction to symphonic music of the Romantic era, with a healthy dose of regional impressionism thrown in for good measure.
Jay Fishman and the Minnesota Sinfonia are especially good at these sorts of compositions, and this will be very much on display on Fri., Jan. 9 in the Founders Hall Auditorium. And tickets...are not needed.
Related links
Minnesota Sinfonia:
www.mnsinfonia.org
Kyoko Takezawa:
www.kyokotakezawa.com