The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra is set to return in full force with the group’s first performance of the 2022-2023 concert season coming up this weekend.
The symphony orchestra will …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you had an active account on our previous website, then you have an account here. Simply reset your password to regain access to your account.
If you did not have an account on our previous website, but are a current print subscriber, click here to set up your website account.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
* Having trouble? Call our circulation department at 360-385-2900, or email our support.
Please log in to continue |
|
The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra is set to return in full force with the group’s first performance of the 2022-2023 concert season coming up this weekend.
The symphony orchestra will return to the Chimacum High School auditorium for a free concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30.
Acclaimed conductor Tigran Arakelyan will lead the concert, which will feature the Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Tuba, John DiCesare.
DiCesare will perform “Tuba Concerto” by Ralph Vaughn Williams as well as “Gaelic Symphony” in E minor by Amy Beach.
Prior to joining the prestigious Seattle Symphony, DiCesare was the principal tuba for the Louisville Orchestra, also playing with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and Cincinnati Symphony throughout his career.
DiCesare is currently an artist in residence at the University of Washington, and when he’s not dressed up and bringing the brass in concert, he’s likely on the golf course with friends or hiking around Western Washington’s multitude of premier trails.
Visitors can catch the symphony orchestra at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28 for the open dress rehearsal at the Chimacum auditorium. COVID protocols require both concert and dress rehearsal attendees to wear high-quality masks.
Regarding the two main musical pieces to be performed, Vaughn Williams’ “Tuba Concerto” was the first-ever full concerto written specifically for the tuba. The concerto premiered in 1954 with the London Symphony Orchestra.
While previously-written pieces had featured tuba solos, Vaughn Williams’ concerto displays the true versatility of the brass instrument as well as his penchant for English folk songs. Following initial skepticism to a full concerto for the tuba, the piece has gone on to become one of Vaughn Williams’ most popular works.
American composer Amy Beach’s “Gaelic Symphony” will also be played in the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra concert. The piece was meant to be performed by the local symphony prior to COVID, and listeners will finally get the chance to hear it live.
Written in 1894, this was the first symphony composed and debuted by a major American symphony and written by a U.S. woman. The premier heavily impressed, and Beach became the first woman to be included in the esteemed Second New England School of composers.
More details on the performance, and other information, can be found at ptsymphony.org.
