Berkeley Symphony Performs PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION in June

Berkeley Symphony, led by Music Director Joseph Young, will present Pictures at an Exhibition on Sunday, June 2 at 4 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall. Color and light will converge in a program of symphonic works by Jimmy López Bellido, Duke Ellington, and Modest Mussorgsky, which will comprise the final Symphonic Series concert of the 2023–24 season. 

"Throughout our 52nd season, we've explored musical colors and styles, welcomed a diversity of artists, and created orchestral experiences that are powerful, joyful, and inclusive,” Maestro Joseph Young says. “I dedicate this final program to all who went on this musical journey with us, especially the musicians of the Berkeley Symphony and the audiences who turn out to support us all season long.”

Spanish-born violinist Leticia Moreno, celebrated for her “natural charisma, virtuosity, and deep interpretative force,” will be featured in the West Coast premiere of Jimmy López Bellido's luminous Aurora Violin Concerto, following a successful world premiere performance and GRAMMY-nominated recording with the Houston Symphony. López, whose “buoyant” work Rise Berkeley Symphony commissioned and, in 2022, premiered, was inspired to write Aurora after witnessing the Northern Lights, which he described as “one of Nature's most spectacular displays.” Concert attendees will be dazzled by the accompanying light show, giving each person an immersive experience with their ears and eyes. 

Also on the program is Duke Ellington's wistful foxtrot Solitude. Recorded by Ellington himself numerous times and covered by jazz legends including Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, the 1934 standard comes to Zellerbach Hall as a string orchestra arrangement by Morton Gould. Famously written by Ellington in just 20 minutes, this brief yet poignant work has had a lasting legacy.

The final piece on the program, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, began as a Romantic suite for solo piano and was transformed in scope by the magnificent orchestration of Impressionist composer Maurice Ravel, to vividly depict scenes by Mussorgsky's contemporary, Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter. The audience will be taken on a sonic journey through the bustling marketplace at Limoges, the foreboding Paris catacombs, the enchanted forest of Baba Yaga the Witch, and much more. 

Audiences are invited to the 3 p.m. pre-concert chat, moderated by Berkeleyside journalist Andrew Gilbert. Berkeley Symphony musicians and guest artists will explore the musical and historical contexts of the afternoon's program. This event is offered free to all ticket holders. 

Tickets for Pictures at an Exhibition start at $25 and may be purchased online at berkeleysymphony.org or by phone at (510) 841-2800.

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