Chris Zimmerman, Music Director, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra. Photo courtesy of Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
The heat of musical fire is arriving soon thanks to the combined artistic forces of Fairfax County's own Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) and Fairfax Choral Society (FCS). Together, the partnership will bring musical and vocal hip and cool into our own backyard. Both Fairfax-based organizations have been entertaining audiences in the area for over five decades.
Now, add sizzling, sultry and dramatic to what is in store as the FSO and FCS reach-out to current audiences familiar with their work and to new audiences who are unfamiliar and want to take a look.
"Fairfax can and does produce entertainment at the very highest level - you don't need to look elsewhere for outstanding performances and great experiences," said Christopher Zimmerman, music director, FSO.
When and Where
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and Fairfax Choral Society performing at George Mason University's Center for the Arts, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax. Performance: Saturday, May 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-$60. General information visit: http://www.fairfaxs…">http://www.fairfaxs…
or http://www.fairfaxc…">www.fairfaxchoralso… or call 888-945-2468 for tickets.
On May 10 at the Center for the Arts, the FSO and FCS will bring the "enormity of their performing forces" to stage the famous "Carmina Burana," said Douglas Mears, artistic director, FCS. If you don't recognize that name, remember the music underscoring the recent Hershey's Spreadable Chocolate television advertising or excerpts heard in films ranging from "Excalibur" to "Natural Born Killers" to the trailer for "Glory," even an episode of "Glee."
Carol Orff's "Carmina Burana" is an exciting and very dramatic piece. It is a "roller coaster ride from start to finish," said Mears. It is "a fantastically compelling piece of music." There will be hundreds of vocalists and musicians singing and playing live to enthrall audience members.
"Carmina" has a wide variety of musical styles. "It has a tremendous drama and sense of momentum to it, it feels like something amazing is about to happen," said Zimmerman. Mears called it "a wildly exuberant and ecstatic musical setting of the poetry of wandering medieval monks, who believed that in both life and love, man is the pawn of capricious fate."
Paired with "Carmina" will be a performance of Argentine musician Astor Piazzoll's delightful "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires." This work was revolutionary in bringing jazz elements into traditional tango when written in 1965. It is music with multiple tempos and energy; impatient and melancholy, calm and vigorous, mirroring the urban setting and seasons that are Buenos Aires. Internationally renowned violinist Guillermo Figueroa will join the FSO to perform with own special "flair" noted Zimmerman.
There will be something for everyone as the rafters of the Center for the Arts shake and tremble.