Name: Spring Concert
Start: 2022-03-13T14:30:00
Location: San Mateo High School

Leo Eylar

Andromeda Kepecs

Parker  Van Ostrand

California Youth Symphony

Maestro Eylar has chosen a highly eclectic and exciting program for our Spring Concert Series, with works by Gershwin, Glazunov, Schoenberg, and Bernstein. Composed in 1932 after a two-week vacation in Cuba, Gershwin’s Cuban Overture (originally titled Rhumba) makes prominent use of Caribbean rhythms and Cuban native percussion, with a wide spectrum of instrumental color. The Overture includes references to Cuban folk melodies and the well-known Spanish song La Paloma. The Overture was a smash success at its premiere in August 1932 and was very favorably reviewed by music critics. Our featured Young Artist Competition Winner Andromeda Kepecs will perform the ultra-romantic and hauntingly beautiful Violin Concerto by Alexander Glazunov, completed in 1904 and dedicated to the Russian violin virtuoso Leopold Auer. Cast in one continuous movement, the work is a tour-de-force of technical virtuosity and soaring melodic invention. We continue with the Finale of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor, orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg. This Rondo a la Zingarese is a whirling gypsy-inspired dance movement that illustrates both the melodic genius of Brahms and the deft orchestral technique of Arnold Schoenberg. Our closing work is the monumental Symphony no. 2, subtitled Age of Anxiety, by Leonard Bernstein. A highly unusual work, the Age of Anxiety calls for a piano soloist of the highest caliber, and we are delighted to have former YAC winner Parker Van Ostrand joining the orchestra for this performance. The Symphony is based on W.H. Auden’s poem of the same name and is a programmatic work that deals with the theme of isolation, loneliness, and disquietude, and the journey from that state of being toward faith and hope. This highly charged work, which has great relevance for our times, is sure to move and inspire listeners.