“American Visions, American Voices”: Symphony concerts are part of Interplay collaboration with Chapman University exploring George Gershwin and Charles Ives
Music Director Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony, together with Artistic Adviser Joseph Horowitz, set out to design a concert that inspires new understanding of the rocky union between classical and jazz, the desire to create “American” music and the legendary composers who made it possible. The program includes two classical pieces influenced by jazz and one that forged its American voice through similar influences: George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major and Charles Ives’ Second Symphony, which alludes to popular American folks tunes.
The concert also includes popular American and French songs sung by baritone William Sharp. “Rhapsody in Blue” and Piano Concerto in G Major both feature American pianist Simone Dinnerstein, whom NPR has said: “…compels the listener to follow her in a journey of discovery filled with unscheduled detours…the result is a wonderfully expressive interpretation.”
“Rhapsody in Blue” takes place Thursday through Saturday, April 7-9, at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Tickets range from $25-$110. This concert is preceded by “An Ives Experience” at 7 p.m., featuring Alan Chapman, actor David Prather as Charles Ives, and Chapman University students performing the music that Ives knew and incorporated into his own compositions. Then, on April 10, at 3 p.m., Sunday Casual Connections offers a matinee performance of “Rhapsody and Blue” and Ravel’s Piano Concerto featuring Dinnerstein. Tickets for this concert, entitled “Gershwin’s Rhapsody,” are $25-$96. A pre-concert presentation at 1:30 p.m. features Chapman professor Wendy Salmond and Horowitz discussing Gershwin’s relationship with his contemporaries in both visual arts and music. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org. Support for this program is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
These concerts are part of the Interplay festival “American Visions, American Voices,” a collaboration between Chapman University and Pacific Symphony focusing on Ives and Gershwin. Taking place through April, the festival explores how these composers and their contemporaries created a uniquely “American voice” by drawing on the sights and sounds around them during this fascinating period of the country’s history. Guest artists and lecturers include baritone Sharp, pianist Steven Mayer, actor Prather and Horowitz, along with Chapman faculty and students. The festival includes on-campus lectures, performances, master classes and a semester-long honors course, as well as the Symphony’s concerts. For a complete schedule of events, please see the end of the release or visit www.chapman.edu/interplay.
Janelle Kruly
Public Relations and Social Media Manager
Pacific Symphony
3631 S. Harbor Blvd. Suite 100
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Direct: 714/ 876-2385 │Tickets: 714/ 755-5799
