The Meadows School of the Arts launches its 2005-2006 music season this Friday. The performances will include selections of musical genres ranging from symphony and wind ensemble to opera and chorale.
The Meadows Symphony Orchestra, conducted by SMU Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities Paul Phillips, incorporates students from around the world, some of whom are internationally acclaimed soloists. The opening concert, titled “Firsts,” will be presented on Friday at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 3 p.m. It includes a repertoire of several composers’ first works, such as Brahms’ “Symphony No. 1.”
During the first half of October, the orchestra will feature Meadows faculty member Erin Hannigan as a soloist in the Masterworks for Chamber Orchestra concert. Bach’s composition “Mass in B Minor, BWV 232,” assembled over the last 25 years of his life and considered by many to be the “the greatest work for voices and instruments,” will be conducted by Alfred Calabrese at the end of October in a concert named “Brilliance of Bach.” Calabrese is the conductor of the Meadows Choirs, which take part in the concert with the orchestra and are comprised of the chorale, concert choir and choral union.
The concert choir and choral union will present John Rutter’s popular work “Gloria” in November and will have another show at the beginning of April. The chorale presents another show in April, conducted in the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Auditorium.
The Creative Imagination performance, held in November, will offer more unusual pieces, such as Luciano Berio’s “Quattro Versioni.”
Aspiring student conductors will showcase their talent during February of next year in the Student Conductors’ Concert. Admirers of young talent can enjoy the skills of the winners of the annual Meadows Concerto Competition, featured in the Rising Stars concert held in March.
The culminating event of the season, the 2006 Grand Event: Meadows at the Meyerson, is “The Glorious Music of France,” which will display masterpieces from French composers, such as Poulenc’s “Gloria” and Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Faun.” It will be held at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in April.
The internationally acclaimed Meadows Wind Ensemble, led by Jack Delaney, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Delaney has commissioned many works by acclaimed composers and has conducted several professional and student ensembles throughout the world.
Heading up the season on Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. is “A Wild Ride,” featuring the world premiere of Samuel Adler’s “Pygmalion” amongst its works.
Honoring the founding conductor of the MWE, William H. Lively, November’s performance of “Diversions & Dances” will include Normanhe Dello Joio’s “Diversion of Angels” and Michael Daugherty’s “Red Cape Tango.”
Next February, the director of bands at UT Austin and conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony, Jerry Junkin, will participate in “Holy Roller!,” presenting Libby Larson’s sermon of the same title and complimented by saxophone and piano performances.
Jazz lovers will be accommodated in March’s “The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics,” promoting Warren Benson’s portrayal of a New Orleans jazz funeral in “Dawn’s Early Light.” The MWE’s final performance, “Fascinating Notions,” features distinguished composer Stephen Paulus and student composer Anne Strickland.
The Meadows Opera Theatre, led by Marciem Bazell, who has directed for opera companies throughout the United States, begins its season Nov. 30 with Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera.” It will be accompanied by the wind ensemble and performed in Greer Garson Theatre.
The Bob Hope Theatre will host the February performance of the renowned “The Turn of the Screw,” based on the story by Henry James. “An Evening of Scenes,” performed in the Margo Jones Theatre and featuring a variety of opera, operetta and musical theatre scenes, will finish off the season in May.
