USC Symphony Orchestra announces the 2017-2018 Season
September 6, 2017
The University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert takes place September 28 at 7:30 p.m. with Zuill Bailey performing on Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway, for which he won a 2017 Grammy for Best Solo Classical Performance.
Michael Daugherty, a composer frequently inspired by American themes, characters, and history, writes pieces on cultural and historical icons such as Rosa Parks, Jackie Onassis and the Brooklyn Bridge. Captivated by Ernest Hemingway’s real-life adventures and fictional characters, Daugherty creates four scenes with the cello soloist as protagonist which honors Hemingway’s life and work.
Also on the September concert is Dimitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Eighty years ago on November 21, 1937, Shostakovich nervously attended the premiere of his Symphony No. 5 in D minor in Leningrad. The composer had recently been denounced by the Soviet state newspaper for composing cacophonous formalist music, but the premiere of the fifth symphony was a huge success, and the Soviet state praised his triumphant musical statement.
Conductor Scott Weiss said, “The musicians of the USC Symphony Orchestra and I are very excited to present our 2017-18 season in the Koger Center for the Arts. Featuring repertoire spanning four centuries, our season showcases the amazing talent we have in our world-class School of Music. Highlights include beloved symphonies by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Shostakovich, as well as terrific concerti featuring several of USC’s outstanding faculty soloists. And, of course, we eagerly anticipate the return to USC of cellist Zuill Bailey, winner of the 2017 Grammy Award.”
Season tickets: General Public – $150 each; Senior Citizen/USC Faculty and Staff – $110 each; Children under 18 – $45 each
Single concert tickets: General Public – $30; Senior Citizen/USC Faculty and Staff – $25; Children under 18 – $5
NEW THIS YEAR! USC Students – Free with Student ID. Students must pick up free ticket at the Koger Box before 5:00 p.m. on the day of the concert. (Bernstein MASS excluded from free tickets)
Call 803-251-2222 or Koger Box Office, corner of Greene and Park Streets (M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or online atkogercenterforthearts.com
The 2017-2-18 USC Symphony Orchestra Season
All performances take place in the Koger Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. Join us for our pre-concert talks at 6:45 p.m. on the Koger stage prior to each performance.
Thursday, September 28, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
USC Symphony Orchestra: Zuill Bailey Returns!
Koger Center for the Arts
Zuill Bailey, cello
Daugherty – Tales of Hemingway
Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47
Back by popular demand, cellist Zuill Bailey returns to USC to perform the cello concerto for which he received the 2017 Grammy for Best Solo Classical Performance, Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway. This riveting new work brings to life the brilliant literature and fascinating life of writer Ernest Hemingway.
Monday, October 30, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
USC Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven’s “Pastoral”
Ari Streisfeld, violin
Daniel Sweaney, viola
Mozart – Sinfonia concertante for violin, viola and orchestra in E-flat major
Beethoven – Symphony No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 68 “Pastoral”
With its evocations of brooks, birdsongs, and thunderstorms, Beethoven’s bucolic “Pastoral” symphony celebrates the beauty of nature and is one of the composer’s most beloved works. Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante opens the concert and showcases USC’s newest members of the string faculty, violinist Ari Streisfeld and violist Daniel Sweaney.
Monday, December 4, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
USC Symphony Orchestra: Famous Last Words
Phillip Bush, piano
Bartók – Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Major, Sz. 119
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique”
Both Bartók and Tchaikovsky may very well have saved their very best for last. Completed in their final days, the two works on this program include some of the most beautiful and poignant music either composer ever wrote.
Thursday, February 1, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
USC Symphony Orchestra: Concertos!
Join Scott Weiss and the USC Symphony for a program featuring the winners of the 2017-18 USC Concerto-Aria Competition. Artists and repertoire to be announced.
This special production is the USC School of Music’s largest musical event!
Fri, March 2, 7:30 p.m. Sat, March 3, 7:30 p.m.
Sun, March 4, 4:00 p.m.
Bernstein MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers
Kevin Vortmann, tenor
The University of South Carolina School of Music marks the centenary of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein’s birth in 2018 with his monumental MASS, a theatre piece for singers, players and dancers. The production was composed at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center in 1971. Bernstein’s MASS is one of the most profound stage works ever created in English and an iconic piece of Americana. The epic stage production includes two orchestras, a rock band, a blues band, several choirs, singers, dancers and actors, and features as the Celebrant acclaimed Seattle tenor Kevin Vortmann, who recently performed the role to critical praise with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Sung in English, Latin and Hebrew. Sung in English, Latin and Hebrew.
By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., Sole Agent for Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, publisher and copyright owner.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
USC Symphony Orchestra: Mahler’s “Titan”
Koger Center for the Arts
Joseph Eller, clarinet
Nielsen – Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 57
Mahler – Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan”
The USC Symphony concludes its season with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, a monumental work that takes listeners from the mystic awakening of nature to an exhilarating, heart-stopping finale. The evening opens with the stormy clarinet concerto of Danish composer Carl Nielsen.
About the Conductor
Scott Weiss is beginning his eighth year as the Sarah Bolick Smith Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina where he conducts the USC Symphony Orchestra and the USC Wind Ensemble and teaches conducting. Equally at home leading symphony orchestras and wind ensembles, Dr. Weiss maintains an active international guest conducting schedule, including recent concerts in China with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, the Hunan Symphony Orchestra, the Nanchang Philharmonic, the Shandong Symphony Orchestra, and the Inner Mongolia Symphony Orchestra; and his 2017-18 schedule includes return engagements with the Inner-Mongolia and Hunan Symphony Orchestras, as well as his debut with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra. A champion of contemporary music, his performances have been praised by such notable composers as Joseph Schwantner, Karel Husa, Samuel Adler, and Jennifer Higdon; and he has a series of critically-acclaimed recordings on the Naxos label as well as a new disc on Summit Records that was released worldwide in April 2017.
