For its fifth annual city-wide composer festival, the San Antonio Symphony is partnering with local arts groups for performances of music by Richard Strauss. Curated by Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing, the Strauss Festival runs January 4 to February 22 and includes tone poems, chamber music, and Elektra, the latter in a collaboration with Opera San Antonio. Works include the composer’s tone poems as well as Strauss works that were premiered by the San Antonio Symphony, including Josephslegende, Symphonic Fragment and the Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten. Also on the slate are works by composers who influenced or were inspired by Strauss. To mark the symphony’s 75th anniversary, Renée Fleming opened the San Antonio Symphony’s 2014-15 season with Strauss’s Four Last Songs, which had its U.S. premiere in San Antonio. The orchestra’s series of recently commissioned “American Preludes” are also part of the festival. Artistic partners include Ballet San Antonio, Barshop Jewish Community Center, Camerata San Antonio, Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, San Antonio Choral Society, and the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. Performances and discussions will take place at venues throughout the city including the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, community centers, churches, and museums. For more, visit http://strausssa.org.
Posted January 8, 2015
