Sunday, April 20, 2008

North State Symphony Season Finale

scan0001 Well, our little North State Symphony just keeps getting better and better.  Our musical director and conductor is Kyle Wiley Pickett.  He fills the same shoes in Juneau, Alaska, so he's a busy boy.

We first started attending NSS performances in 2001.  The only other symphony orchestra I had ever heard was the San Francisco Symphony.  When I first heard the NSS, I thought they were cute, but amateur.  Each year they improved, and this year they sound good.  I have to give Wiley Pickett the credit, and the concertmaster Terrie Baune leads a fine violin section.

Today was the final performance of the season, and the guest artists were Chelsea Morden on Violin and Ayako Nakamura on Trumpet.  These young women are both winners of a young artist's competition that is held each year.

Today's program included:

  • Debussy's Nocturnes
  • Kabalevsky's Violin Concerto in C major, Opus 48 (guest artist C. Morden)
  • Arutiunian's Trumpet Concerto (guest artist A. Nakamura)
  • Holst's The Planets

A thousand years ago, when I was young, my father gave me an LP of Debussy.  I can still remember the cover of the album and was picturing it while the orchestra played Debussy's Nocturnes. 

Of course, everybody recognizes Holst's Planets.  The Planets made a fine season finale.  Very fine.

PS: you know why there are more women playing in orchestra's these days?  Because many auditions are held behind a curtain, so that you can't tell whether it's a man or a woman, only how they play.  At least, that's what Jan tells me.



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