Winter Concert: "Migration"

Repertoire:

Chen Gang & He Zhan Hao: The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite

Márquez: Danzon #2

Wagner, arr. Dackow: Overture to Rienzi

Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 4

Verdi, arr. Dackow: Overture to Nabucco

Sibelius, arr. Leidig: Fourth Movement from Symphony No. 2

Artés: Chamambo

Youth Music Monterey County is proud to present Migration, an extraordinary concert of music that celebrates the transcendent beauty of Chinese, Russian, Mexican, German, and Italian composers. Under the leadership of YMMC’s Music Director Danko Druško, the Junior Youth and Honors Orchestras present brilliant orchestral works performed by our community’s most talented young musicians in Carmel’s Sunset Center Theater. Members of the Junior Youth & Honors Orchestras hail from over 25 schools across Monterey County.

The first half of the concert features the Junior Youth Orchestra performing Italian and German opera overtures and a movement from Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony. Students from the YOSAL orchestra will join the JYO on stage for Chamambo, a rhythmic Latin dance. 

The Honors Orchestra presents the fiery Danzon #2 by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. Gustavo Dudamel brought world-wide fame to the work with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra. Premiered in 1994, it has become a staple of contemporary Mexican classical music, joining the ranks of Sensemaya and Sinfonia India in popularity. All eyes and ears are on the string section as they perform the beautiful and lush 3rd movement, Ruhevoll (Adagio), from Mahler’s 4th symphony. One of the highlights of the concert is the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhan Hao, two Chinese composers who are still alive and well, in what may be the local premiere of this work. The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto is written in traditional 5-note, or pentatonic, technique. It uses Chinese melodies, chord structures, and patterns, giving the piece a distinctive "Chinese" sound, though it uses tonal harmonies. The music is pure rapture and 18-year old violinist Lance Yang Bauer plays the first movement of the work with stunning virtuosity and depth. He says, “Since I first heard this music in Hong Kong at age 8, it touched me inside and I thought I would love to play it on stage one day.”

The concert concludes with the first five dances of the Suite from the Swan Lake ballet by Tchaikovsky. From the haunting opening of the famous Swan Lake Theme played by the solo oboe to the energetic waltz, the gorgeous ballet music will enthrall the senses. Please join us Sunday, March 1st, 3 p.m., for a truly memorable afternoon of music that will rock you!