Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, will present a special Carnegie Hall sendoff concert in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on April 12, 13 and 14 so that Orange County audiences can experience the program the Symphony will perform on its debut concert in New York’s classical mecca. The program explores the influence of Ravi Shankar and Indian aesthetics on Philip Glass and features his The Passion of Ramakrishna, a Pacific Symphony co-commission for chorus, soloists, and orchestra that was given its world premiere by Pacific Symphony in 2006. Pacific Chorale, which sang in the world premiere, will join Pacific Symphony for the performance at Carnegie Hall. The program also includes “Meetings Along the Edge” from the Glass/Shankar collaboration Passages and Shankar’s Third Sitar Concerto, featuring the composer’s daughter Anoushka Shankar as soloist. Philip Glass is Carnegie Hall’s 2017-18 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair.
Before the evening performance, audiences are invited to enjoy a free festival of Indian music and dance on The Julianne and George Argyros Plaza from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m, generously sponsored by The Tarsadia Foundation, which is also a sponsor of the Thursday evening concert. Instrumental music ensembles and dance companies will alternate. The dance companies appearing include the Classical Bharatanatyam group Shakti Dance Company; Kalbelia Folk Dance troupe Desert Fire; and Classical Kathak group Shivam Arts Dance. Musicians include the sitar and tabla duo comprised of sitarist Paul Livingstone and tabla player Neel Agrawal; the santoor and tabla duo of Kamaljeet Ahluwalla and Jas Ahluwalla; and veena and tabla duo of Suman Laha and Arup Chattapadhyay.
For those who have purchased concert tickets, there will be an additional group performing inside the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The Arohi Ensemble will perform in the lobby from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. The Arohi Ensemble features six virtuoso musicians, including leading artists from India, the U.S., and Venezuela, under the leadership of sitar virtuoso Paul Livingstone. Arohi performs ragajazz, featuring original compositions and improvisation steeped in the classical ragas and rhythmic dynamism and excitement of Indian music.
The Glass & Shankar performances take place at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on Thursday, April 12; Friday, April 13; and Saturday, April 14, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets priced $25 to $126 are available from by phone at (714) 755-5799 or online at PacificSymphony.org. A preview talk with Alan Chapman of Classical KUSC takes place at 7 p.m.
