“The changing seasons should be in view in Southwest Georgia when the Albany Symphony Orchestra launches its 2014-15 season in late October” with a subscription series entitled “Brave the Elements,” writes Jim Hendricks in Saturday’s (8/2) Albany Herald (Albany, Georgia). “Music director Claire Fox Hillard … said the theme for this year’s series” allowed the orchestra to involve “local groups like Chehaw and the Flint RiverQuarium [and enable] the symphony to ‘partner with others in a meaningful way.’ ” The orchestra’s February 28 concert will feature the world premiere of Steve Landis’s Thronateeska, “composed for the Albany Symphony with the ensemble enhakē as soloists…. ‘Thronateeska,’ Landis said, ‘is cast in three continuous sections and explores the impact that the Flint River has had upon the region.’ The geological features of flint and its use in local pre-Columbian history inspire the first section…. ‘The Flint River has influenced the course of human history for thousands of years; the final section is a survey of these events as perceived by the river.’ In addition, this concert will include Bedrich Smetana’s ‘Moldau’ (River) and Beethoven’s depiction of nature—Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral.’ The series will wrap up with ‘Earth’ … [featuring] Native American flute player Joseph FireCrow in a multimedia composition by Jim Cockey titled, ‘The Gift of the Elk.’ ”
Posted August 4, 2014
