Austin Symphony Orchestra kicking off new season; Roberto Plano returns, along with Kaitlin Ramsey

Published 8:39 am Friday, October 26, 2018

At 7 p.m. this Saturday, in Knowlton Auditorium, the Austin Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 62nd  season with the concert, “Celebrate Old Friends” which  features pianist Roberto Plano performing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,”  and Kaitlin Ramsey sharing the poetry she has written to accompany the favorite Copland piece, “Appalachian Spring.”

The Austin Symphony Orchestra holds Plano as a precious friend.

After winning first prize in the 2001 Cleveland International Piano Competition, Roberto appeared with the ASO in the 2002-03  season and has since played with the Austin Symphony about seven times.

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His artistry is breathtakingly beautiful and his outgoing personality and kind ways make the whole musical experience pure joy, not only for the orchestra members, but also for the audience.

The piece Roberto will be performing, “Rhapody in Blue,”  is a favorite and was composed by Gershwin in the short time of five weeks  Gershwin told his first biographer, Isaac Goldberg in 1931:

“It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer — I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise … And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper — the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance.”

“Rhapsody in Blue” premiered in an afternoon concert on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 1924, in New York City in Aeolian Hall.  Many important and influential musicians of the time were present, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Stokowski and John Philip Sousa.

Kaitlin Ramsey is also a friend of the ASO and this is her second appearance with the Symphony. She will be narrating the poetry she wrote to go along with Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”  “Appalachian Spring” was commissioned by dancer Martha Graham and  Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge in 1942 and was originally a ballet. The story told in the music is of a spring celebration of the American pioneers of the 19th century  after building a new Pennsylvania farmhouse. 

Among the central characters are a bride, a groom, a pioneer woman, and preacher and his congregation. Copland arranged Rhapsody as an orchestral suite in 1945 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for this composition. This is a beloved piece.

In addition to “Rhapsody” and “Appalachian Spring,” the Austin Symphony will play Mexican composer Arturo Marquez’s “Danzon No. 2,” one of the most popular orchestral works in the world today.

A big part of the mission of the Austin Symphony Orchestra is to encourage and nurture the love of music in our young people.  There are seven  high school students in our symphony orchestra.

On Monday, Oct. 29, the Austin Symphony will play “Celebrate Old Friends”  for fourth, fifth and sixth grade students from Austin public and parochial schools as well as for students from four Iowa districts, Albert Lea,  Owatonna , Adams, LeRoy, Grand Meadow,  Lyle, Glenville-Emmons, Southland, Hayfield, and Blooming Prairie.

The concert Monday is a culmination of over a month of study led by these children’s  music teachers in their respective schools using materials supplied by the Austin Symphony. 

Austin Symphony conductor Steve Ramsey is now beginning his 25th year as the musical leader. He brings great skill, artistry and passion to his calling.

The Austin Symphony Orchestra is a community project. Besides the conductor and the players,  there are people who do a great deal behind the scenes work to make this all happen:  Business Manager Martha Chancellor, Personal Manager Laura Larson, Symphony Board President Morgan Dickman and a group of faithful, hard-working Symphony Board members, as well as many donors.