CSO to Present APPALACHIAN SPRING, 5/15-16

Revel in the music of the Americas with the bold colors and spicy rhythms of Mexico's Revueltas, the sultry jazz infusion of Argentine tango master Piazzola, and the cheerful folksiness of "the dean of American composers," Aaron Copland. Led by guest conductor Andrés Franco and featuring guest harpist Yolanda Kondanassis, this enticing program also offers a rare opportunity to enjoy two delectable works for harp and orchestra-the Ginastera concerto that channels tropical heat and Debussy's chamber work that incites sweet reverie.

The full program will include Revueltas' Sensemayá, Piazzola's Milonga del Angel, Ginastera's Harp Concerto, Debussy's Damses sacrée et profane, and Copland's Appalachian Spring.

The Columbus Symphony presents Copland's Appalachian Spring at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16, at 8pm. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000. The CAPA Ticket Center will also be open two hours prior to each performance. Young people between the ages of 13-25 may purchase $5 All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.

The 2014-15 Masterworks Series is made possible through the generous support of season sponsor Anne Melvin.

Recently named Music Director of the TCC Signature Symphony in Tulsa, Andrés Franco has established himself as a conductor to watch. Currently in his fifth season as Principal Conductor of Caminos del Inka and his third season as Artistic Director of the Fort Worth Symphony's June festival, Concerts in the Garden, he received a rave review for his recent subscription concert with the FWSO from The

Dallas Morning News, "... Mr. Franco got a degree of finesse and expressive sophistication I'd never heard from the orchestra." Among Franco's 2014-15 highlights are subscription debuts with the Columbus and Fort Worth symphony orchestras, as well as return engagements with the Houston, Saint Louis, and Corpus Christi symphonies.

Kondonassis is celebrated as one of the world's premier solo harpists and is widely regarded as today's most-recorded classical harpist. Hailed as "an extraordinary virtuosa" and "sheer luminescence at the harp," she has performed around the globe as a concerto soloist and in recital, bringing her unique brand of musicianship and warm artistry to an ever-increasing audience. Also a published author, speaker, professor of harp, and environmental activist, she weaves her many passions into a vibrant and multi-faceted career tapestry.

Revueltas was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist, and a conductor. Considered Revueltas' masterpiece, Sensemayá is a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén that Revueltas set to music in 1937, originally for small orchestra. In 1938, he expanded it into a full-scale orchestral work for 27 wind instruments, 14 percussion instruments, and strings. The poem evokes a ritual Afro-Caribbean chant performed while killing a snake.

Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His work revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. Biographers estimate that Piazzolla wrote around 3,000 pieces and recorded around 500. Released in 1993, Milonga del Angel is a work from a Piazzolla album of the same title.

Ginastera is considered one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. He grouped his music into three periods-Objective Nationalism (1934-1948), Subjective Nationalism (1948-1958), and Neo-Expressionism (1958-1983). Ginastera's Harp Concerto premiered in 1965 with Nicanor Zabaleta and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.

French composer Debussy is considered one of the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music, though he himself disliked the term when applied to his compositions. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed. Debussy's Danses Sacrée et Profane for harp and string quintet premiered in 1904.

Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career, a conductor of his own and other American music. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, in his later years he was often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers." Copland's ballet Appalachian Spring premiered in 1944, and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. He was awarded the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Music for this achievement.

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