The Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, conducted by Music Director Andy Radford, will close its 2011-12 season with a “Grand Finale” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road in Santa Barbara.
Also on hand will be SBCC student and trombonist Michael Dolin and San Marcos High School student and violinist Sofiya Prykhitko, who were the winners in an orchestra-wide competition for the chance to solo in front of an orchestra in the concert.
The program will consist of the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy (France: 1862-1918); the Polonaise de Concert, Opus 4 (with Prykhitko) by Henryk Wieniawski (Poland: 1835-1880); the Suite from An American In Paris by George Gershwin (USA: 1898-1937) and arranged by John Whitney; the “Dance of the Tumblers” from the opera The Snow Maiden by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Russia: 1844-1908); “A Simple Song” from MASS by Leonard Bernstein (USA: 1918-1990) and arranged by Robert Longfield; the moderato from the Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (with Dolin) by Launy Grøndahl (Denmark: 1886-1960); “Sevilla” from the Suite Española, Opus 47 by Isaac Albèniz (Spain: 1860-1909) and arranged by Felix Guenther; and the song “Crazy for You” by Gershwin, arranged by Jerry Brubaker.
This program abounds with delicious curiosities, few of which come our way in the normal course of a music season. The songs by Gershwin and Bernstein — not to mention An American in Paris, which is full of song, too — are particularly welcome.
The Grøndahl concerto is a must for any trombonist aspiring to step forward into the spotlight. To play an entire, shorter work by Wieniawski, rather than a movement from one of his concerti, was a very pleasing choice of Prykhitko — and the polonaise is a dance, remember.
Tickets are $14 for adults and $10 for students/seniors. Children age 6 or younger are admitted free. Tickets are available by clicking here or calling the Santa Barbara Symphony offices at 805.898.9386.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributor. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews.