Even with works by eminent composers like
and Dmitri Shostakovich on the bill, the main attraction of the
Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming concert is a new work
by a local composer.
The Brooklyn premiere of the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra
by Evan Hause, a North Carolina native who now lives in Greenpoint,
will be part of the orchestra’s Feb. 11 program in Walt Whitman
Hall on the Brooklyn College campus.
"Evan’s a Brooklyn composer, and we have a commitment to
doing at least one composition by a Brooklyn composer every year,"
said Nick Armstrong, the orchestra’s artistic director. "Evan’s
name was known to me through conversations I was hearing from
different musicians. But I never knew his music, so it was a
most fortuitous meeting when he showed me his work.
"He actually met me one day with the concerto’s score under
his arm, and I discovered it was a great showcase for the soloist
and the orchestra."
The soloist is Eric Berlin, who also performed the work in its
2001 premiere, with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. "Eric
is a superb musician, and our audience is in for a real treat,"
said Armstrong.
Hause’s 18-minute long concerto is in three movements, with enough
technical challenges to tempt even an accomplished musician like
Berlin, who plays a "flumpet" (a cross between a flugelhorn
and a trumpet) in the middle movement.
"Evan has written the orchestral parts in such a way so
that every so often there’s a big lush string sound, giving the
piece a real element of 1940s Hollywood film writing," Armstrong
explained.
"He’ll hate me for saying this, I know," he said, laughing,
"but there are many moments of romanticism in the piece."
As for Shostakovich’s First Symphony, Armstrong remained awed
by its confidence, vitality and witty use of the orchestra.
"[The symphony] was composed as a graduation piece!"
he exclaimed. "Shostakovich wrote it when he was just 19,
but it has an incredibly mature sound to it."
Of the upcoming program, Armstrong said it would be less structured
than is his norm.
"I usually plan my programs with some sort of discernible
theme to them, but this time, these are all just pieces I wanted
to do," he said.
Still, some sort of thematic allusions presented themselves during
rehearsals. "Actually, as a few of the musicians pointed
out to me, there are some similarities between the Shostakovich
symphony and the Hause trumpet concerto, even though they were
written nearly a hundred years apart," he noted. "Some
of the orchestral textures and rhythms are very similar. That
being said, the Hause concerto is clearly a more contemporary
work, and it’s not Russian in its sound at all – on the contrary,
it’s very American."
The final piece in the program is the overture from the operetta
"The Gypsy Baron" by Johann Strauss II, composed in
1885.
The orchestra’s next concert is March 31 at the Church of St.
Ann and the Holy Trinity, at Montague and Clinton streets in
Brooklyn Heights, and will be led by guest conductor Arkady Leytush.
The program consists of two audience favorites: Edvard Grieg’s
Concerto for Piano in A Minor (with young pianist Fan Yang as
soloist) and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor.
Noting the differences between his Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
and the better-known Brooklyn Philharmonic, Armstrong said, "We
appeal to a different audience in that it’s very much a local
audience, and we aim at local neighborhoods in our audience-building.
These neighborhoods are not really served by the Brooklyn Philharmonic."
The orchestra’s mission is to serve the local community, and
the concerts are free, with a suggested donation of $10. That
effort, Armstrong noted, seems to be working. "At the last
concert, it was probably the best attendance we had in a long
time," he said, "and it was very gratifying that we
did so well."
The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra performs
works by Johann Strauss, Dmitri Shostakovich and Evan Hause on
Feb. 11, at 8 pm, at Walt Whitman Hall, on the Brooklyn College
campus, one block from the junction of Nostrand and Flatbush
avenues, in Midwood. Admission is free but a $10 donation is
suggested. For more information, visit www.brooklynsymphonyorchestra.org.
