February 7, 2024

One of my new favorite things at the Lansing Symphony is our “Winterlude” Concert. “Winterlude” is free to the public and presented in the glorious Sanctuary of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Lansing. It is a stunning space visually, acoustically and spiritually.
 
We just did our second “Winterlude” last weekend. These concerts allow us to explore repertoire we might not otherwise program. For example, last year we did two Bach cantatas and two Mendelssohn string symphonies, works we would probably not include in typical Wharton Center programs.
 
This year we brought the LSO brass and percussion sections, added an organist for good measure, and had a musical and sonic experience that will not likely be forgotten anytime soon. Like last season’s concert with Bach cantatas, this program was also largely music with spiritual roots, which added to power of the experience in that space. We did Tomasi’s Fanfare Liturgiques, Hovhaness Prayer of St. Gregory, of course some Gabrielli, works written for the St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, which translated perfectly into the St. Paul’s acoustic space. We had a capacity crowd for the second year in a row. I think “Winterlude” is a keeper.
 
It was a joy to dive into this music with my brass, percussion and organ colleagues. We don’t normally get to “go there”, but “go there” we did, and it’s still ringing in my memory in a most beautiful way.
 
….oh, and a shout out to former LSO librarian, Nick Buonanni for coming up with the name “Winterlude”. It’s perfect!
 
 NEXT UP
 
Lansing Symphony Orchestra
Classical Mystery Tour: Music of the Beatles

Friday, February 16, 2024
Wharton Center for the Performing Arts
East Lansing, Michigan
7:30 p.m.