Kim Allen Kluge Music Director/Conductor Alexandria Symphony Orchestra alexsym.org Kimallenkluge.com Photo Contributed
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra will perform a pair of concerts titled "Dare to Think Heroically" on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 12 at 3 p.m. at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center, 4915 E Campus Dr. This is the fourth concert program in a season-long celebration of the theme "Dare To..."
This season’s theme is inspired by an emerging scientific theory that asserts that every stimulus to the human brain affects its evolution. In musical terms, this means the music we listen to and the choice of music that we listen to directly affects the way our brain develops and evolves and, therefore, has an impact on our behavior and life experience. Listening to music is not passive; rather, it has a profound capacity to change us. I carefully conceived each concert this season to "change our brains and behavior" in specific and unique ways.
“Dare to Think Heroically” celebrates music inspired by heroism. The rousing score to the film
“Gladiator” (2000) and Wagner's transcendent music to “Lohengrin” share a heroic quality, framing a background for the stories to enfold for the protagonists. We will also present the colorful escapades of Strauss' likable anti-hero Till Eulenspiegel, musically recounting the rebellious adventures and ultimate demise of this German peasant folk hero.
The concert will culminate with Jeremy Denk performing Bartok's beautiful and moving “Piano
Concerto No. 3.” Bartok conceived it as a surprise birthday present to his wife—it would be the last piece of music he ever composed. In this extraordinary masterpiece Bartok writes with an endearing simplicity and directness of expression, drawing freely from Hungarian folk melodies and sacred hymn-like figures. His ultimate opus eschews the self-conscious complexities that were intrinsic to Bartok's musical language. One could view this embracing of naturalness and simplicity as an act of heroism in itself.
Jeremy Denk is one of the most interesting, thoughtful and sought-after pianists performing on the international concert stage. Lauded as a 2013 MacArthur Fellow, 2014 Avery Fisher Prize winner and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year, the ASO family warmly welcomes him in the midst of his world tour. I'm very excited about his collaboration with ASO and earnestly anticipate the special insights that he will bring to this piece and the visceral manner in which he will challenge all of us to "Dare to Think Heroically!”