San Luis Obispo Symphony concludes season with ‘Tchaikovsky & Testimony’
Guest soloist Anthony Yi.
Concert to be held May 6 at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo
– The San Luis Obispo Symphony is gearing up for its final concert of the 2022-2023 season, “Tchaikovsky & Testimony,” to be held on Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the event, which is taking place at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo, can be purchased online at pacslo.org or by phone at (805) 756-4849.
Ahead of the concert, the symphony will host a free “No Ties Allowed” open dress rehearsal that is suitable for all ages. The dress rehearsal will take place at the performing arts center at 11 a.m. on the day of the concert.
During the concert, the symphony will perform the Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber by Paul Hindemith, a work that is known for testing the strengths of the modern orchestra.
Additionally, in partnership with the Diversity Coalition of San Luis Obispo, the symphony will be performing the West Coast premiere of Testimony of Tone, Tune, and Time by Dr. William Banfield. The work, which was commissioned by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in 2021 and premiered in July 2022, is based on the speeches of historical African American orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The piece has seven short movements and is scored for two narrators, solo saxophone, piano, harp, percussion, and strings.
The symphony has three protagonists in Testimony of Tone, Tune, and Time: Frederick Douglass, represented by the saxophone, which will be played by guest soloist Anthony Yi; the people, represented by the piano, harp, percussion, and strings; and the voice of Douglass, represented by two narrators. The guest narrators are Keenon Hooks, resident artist and director/choreographer at Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria (PCPA), and Dr. Amber Machamer, executive director of institutional effectiveness and educational services, San José – Evergreen Community College District. Amber Machamer, along with her sister Leah Mata Fragua, are members of the Yak Tityu Tiyu Yak Tilhini (Northern Chumash) tribe located on the Central California Coast. Leah has created traditional tribal regalia with contemporary accents for Amber’s performance.
Dr. William Banfield, the composer of Testimony of Tone, Tune, and Time, will be attending the performance as part of a mini-residency at Cal-Poly.
The Symphony will close the night with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, also known as the Fate symphony, which is widely considered one of Tchaikovsky’s finest compositions.
Ticket holders are invited to attend a pre-concert Symphonic Foray talk that will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Music Director Andrew Sewell and a special guest. This event is sponsored in loving memory of Michael Fitzgerald.
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