​October 27, 2021

 I just came off two exciting concert weeks. For starters, the Lansing Symphony opened its season this month with our first indoor performance since things shut down. It was beyond beautiful to share the stage with my fabulous colleagues and share music with our wonderful audience.
 
Pianist Michael Brown brought elegance, grace, (and power when needed) to Tchaikovsky’s 1st Concerto. Is was a great pleasure to have him with us. The other highlight of the program was Roger Brigg’s work “Gathering Together.” It was written in 1996, but perfect in every way for the occasion of our first gathering since early 2020.
 
From there I was off to Baton Rouge for the fifth annual installment of “Bachtoberfest.” The name says it all, beer, brats, and Bach (with a few friends added for good measure). It is exciting to see this new series be so successful, selling beyond capacity, and it was great to make music again with my long-time friends in the orchestra.
 
I head back to BR next week for a concert celebrating the orchestra’s 75th anniversary. We have a great program exploring some of the ensemble’s musical legacy including a work from it’s very first program in 1947 (Polovstian Dances), the work with which they opened their concert in Carnegie Hall (Chadwick Jubilee), and two works the orchestra had commissioned from composers Kenton Coe and Stephen Paulus. Also joining the program will be members of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra for a side-by-side performance of some music from Carmen, and the great Jon Nakamatsu closes the program with Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto. It promises to be a wonderful night!
 

Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
November 5, 2021

CHADWICK Jubilee
KOE Ischiana
PAULUS Age of American Passions
BORDIN Polovtsian Dances
BIZET Selections from Carmen (with LYO)
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1


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