California Symphony Presents ALL THINGS STRINGS in November

California Symphony presents All Things Strings, a program featuring the largest section and the melodic heart and soul of the orchestra, the strings section. The piano - an instrument with strings but technically a member of the percussion family - also makes an appearance in this celebration of the lush and lyrical sounds of music played on 188 strings and 88 keys.

Featured on the program is guest pianist and San Francisco native Elizabeth Dorman in Gerald Finzi's Eclogue for Piano and Strings. Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her "elegance and verve," Dorman has been presented as a soloist and chamber musician at venues including The Kennedy Center, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, Herbst Theater, Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, and Leipzig's Hochschule für Musik and Theater. Her live solo performances have been nationally broadcast on NPR and public radio. Seldom programmed today, the joyful Eclogue for Piano and Strings is a breathtaking orchestral work, one of the few by Finzi, who is largely remembered as a choral composer.

The program also includes Grażyna Bacewicz's powerful Concerto for String Orchestra, Antonín Dvořák's exulting Serenade for Strings (in E major), and Edward Elgar's exhilaratingIntroduction and Allegro, Op. 47. The concert will be conducted by California Symphony's Music Director Donato Cabrera.

Often referred to as 20th century composer Bacewicz's opus magnum, Concerto for String Orchestra offers a work of great panache, smooth invention and brilliant instrumentation ideas, that highlight many of the composer's characteristic techniques - from relentless rhythm to neoclassicism and more. Her work offers a showcase for each member of the string section, giving every player a soloist opportunity.

Radiant joy blends with wistful nostalgia in Dvořák's Serenade for Strings (in E major). Composed in just 12 days, Serenade for Strings is bursting with shimmering melodies and the infectious rhythms of Czech folk music. Scored for strings, Elgar's Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47 was composed to show off the virtuosity of the performers, and Cabrera is confident that California Symphony's string section will do it proud.

As of July 1, 2022, the Lesher Center for the Arts will not require proof of full vaccination. Additionally, masks are no longer required, but are highly encouraged while inside the Lesher Center.

For more information or to purchase tickets, the public may visit CaliforniaSymphony.org or call the Lesher Center Ticket Office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wed - Sun, noon to 6pm).