The Northwest Symphony Orchestra perform's its 25th Anniversary concert Saturday, April 28, 8:00 p.m., at the Highline Performing Arts Center, 401 S. 152nd St. in Burien, Anthony Spain, Music Director. The concert is funded, in part, by the National Endowment of the Arts, the Cities of Burien and SeaTac, and 4 Culture.
This season is entitled 25x125 as this 25th year marks the 125th work performed by a local northwest composer.
Anthony Spain spoke to the Highline Times enthusiastically about the concert on his commute to his other job, the new Musical Director, Oregon East Symphony and Chorale in Pendleton, OR., where he is rehearsing the Messiah, both with orchestra and choir. He said he was chosen among 135 applicants over a two-year search.
He was born in England. His parents came to America when he was young. He grew up near Annapolis, MD., and spent about 10 years in Colorado. He arrived here for his Doctorate in 1986.
And although Spain, from England, directs in Oregon (got that?) he said he appreciates being a member of the local artistic scene. "It's great to be with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and we are really proud to be a part of the Burien community," he said. "We really enjoy it. It's great to see our audiences grow and grow, especially over the last few years. We'd like to thank both Burien and Sea Tac for their support.
"We do many classical favorites but then we also make sure we support local creative work," he said. "We view it as our job to get young composers on the map so that other orchestras become interested in them. This is a major mission of ours."
Local artists performing include Alexandra Picard, Samuel Jones, and Michael Nicolella.
"The closer, Tchaikovsky, will really bring the house down," Spain said. "That's just an incredible symphony, lots of brass, percussion, exciting writing, a great way to finish our season and to cap 25 years. Our orchestra will play it full-throttle and put the pedal to the metal."
The April 28 concert includes two world premieres by northwest composers, and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #4. Those premiers include "Petite Suite" by Samuel Jones, and "The Flame of the Blue Star of Twilight" by Michael Nicolella, (Poetry by Yeats). Soloists are Michael Nicolella, classical guitar, and Alexandra Picard, soprano.
Samuel Jones was Seattle Symphony Composer in Residence for 14 years and is now with their Young Composers Program. His work, "The Shoe Bird" brings Eudora Welty’s unforgettable fable to life! In celebration of the release of The Shoe Bird audiobook. His works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, the New Orleans Philharmonic, the Rochester Philharmonic, and others.
His music has been commissioned by the ASCAP Foundation, Meet the Composer, the Houston Symphony, the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Amarillo Symphony, the Midland-Odessa Symphony, the Sioux City Symphony, the Saginaw Symphony, Millsaps College, the Mississippi Boychoir, and the Choral Society of Greensboro.
Michael Nicolella has performed with the Seattle Symphony, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Seattle Creative Orchestra, odeonquartet, Charanga Danzon, Ensemble Sospeso, Seattle Guitar Trio, Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Seattle Choral Company, and the Northwest Symphony Orchestra.
His newest CD, "Ten Years Passed" features the title track, his composition for electric guitar and orchestra, performed with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Anthony Spain, along with music of Henze, Beaser, ter Veldhuis, Wallace, Vazquez, Crane and Lennon/McCartney.
Alexandra Picard was born in New York City, earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, and received her Masters in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory. She is a returning member of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Roles under preparation include Violetta in La Traviata; Manon in Manon; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor and Gerhilde in Die Walküre, both of which she will debut this season.
She has sung Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote for Rogue Opera in Oregon, for the New Opera Festival in Rome, Italy, for the Willamette Concert Opera in Oregon, and for Spokane Opera in Washington. She has performed Musetta in La Bohème for Skagit Opera in Washington, and for the Russian Opera Centre in San Francisco; Pamina in Die Zauberflote in Rome, Italy, and in Seattle, Washington; Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Bellevue Opera in Washington, and Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera in Oakland, California.
Visit: www.northwestsymphonyorchestra.org or call (206) 242-6321.
For tickets online: www.brownpapertickets.com, or call them (800) 838-3006.
Individual tickets may be purchased at the concert venue box office or ticket desk 45 minutes prior. Please note that only cash or checks may be accepted.
Adult - $14
Senior (Over 60) - $10
Student - $10
Group Rate - $10 per person for 10 or more
