On Sunday, April 21, Maestro Clyde Mitchell returns to the podium in his first season as Music Director-Conductor of the Culver City Symphony Orchestra in a free concert of well-known and beloved works inspired by nature and springtime! Join us as we celebrate Earth Day 2024 and the season of rebirth and growth with music by Johann Strauss II, Aaron Copland, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
We open with Frühlingsstimmen (“Voices of Spring”), a waltz-song inspired by the singing of a lark and a nightingale, by the “Waltz King” Johann Strauss II. We welcome friend of the Orchestra, and award-winning composer, conductor, filmmaker, and coloratura soprano, Brooke deRosa to sing this popular waltz in its original version as a display piece for solo soprano and orchestra.
Appalachian Spring began life as a score for a ballet that celebrated “not just any Spring but the Spring of America.” Composer Aaron Copland subsequently arranged a Suite for full orchestra. Copland championed music descriptive of America, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. The Pulitzer Prize winning suite is beautiful and beloved, and features the old Shaker dancing-song “Simple Gifts”.
Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6 completes the concert. Beethoven was a lover of nature who frequently composed in rural locations, where he could spend a great deal of time on walks in the country. This symphony was inspired by those walks, including the evocative first movement, titled “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside” and the finale titled “Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm.”
For more information, visit our website at culvercitysymphony.org/
Sunday, April 21 at 7:00pm
The Robert Frost Auditorium in Culver City
Click to visit our website for more details
Admission to this concert is FREE –
