Among the many orchestral celebrations of the centennial of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring this season are upcoming events in Boston by New England Conservatory’s Philharmonia; in South Carolina by the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra; and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. On April 24, Hugh Wolff will lead the New England Conservatory Philharmonia in The Rite of Spring at Boston’s Jordan Hall, preceded by “Singing the Rite,” a free lecture by John Heiss, a composer, conductor, and flutist on the NEC faculty. The NEC performance will also be broadcast live on Boston radio station WGBH and again on May 29, marking 100 years since the Rite of Spring’s Paris premiere in 1913. On May 4 in Twichell Auditorium at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra will perform The Rite of Spring, led by Music Director Sarah Ioannides. On display at that concert will be paintings, drawings, and sculptures by students at six area high schools, created in response to the Stravinsky work as part of a project directed by Ioannides and with the participation of the schools’ music and art teachers. On May 19 at the East Building Atrium of the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, D.C., Music Director Kim Allen Kluge will lead Virginia’s Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in The Rite of Spring on a program that also includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. The performance is part of Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes 1909-1929: When Art Danced With Music, an exhibit and series of public programs at the National Gallery from May 12 to September 2 showcasing the collaborations of the Ballets Russes under Russian impresario Sergei Diaghelev. Visit the spring issue of Symphony to read Donald Rosenberg’s in-depth examination of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
Posted April 23, 2013
