May 10, 2022

It’s a big week for us in Lansing. This Friday will be our final Masterworks concert of the season, and it is an exciting one. We will begin with a world premiere of LSO’s Composer-in-Residence Patrick Harlin. Patrick’s piece is called “EARTHRISE” and takes its inspiration from the iconic photograph of the same name taken from Apollo 8 in 1968. We have our first rehearsal tonight, and I can’t wait to hear it outside of my head. The work strikes me as a celebration of the grandeur and beauty of our planet and the mystery and vastness of the universe in which it hangs….all a reminder of how we must care for our home such that it can continue to support the life it has miraculously offered us.
 
Another very special and important work will follow, Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. Our soloist is Clayton Stephenson, a Gilmore Young Artist and just recently announced finalist for Cliburn. I’m looking forward to sharing the Price with our audience as they will love the late-romantic style infused with flavors from Ms. Price’s African-American heritage. It is a beautiful and engaging work.
 
We finish the concert and the season with Brahms' Symphony No. 2. What can be said about this sublime work that hasn’t been already?
 
It’s a quick turnaround for me. This concert is Friday, and Sunday I am off to Baton Rouge to start rehearsals for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with my friends and colleagues of the BRSO…an exciting two weeks!
 
NEXT UP
 
Lansing Symphony Orchestra
Wharton Center, East Lansing, Michigan
May 13, 2022
7:30 p.m.
 
Clayton Stephenson, piano
 
HARLIN            EARTHRISE
PRICE               Piano Concerto in One Movement
BRAHMS          Symphony No. 2

#patrickharlin #florenceprice #claytonstephenson #lansingsymphony #batonrougesymphony #lansing