UA News

The University of Arizona Philharmonic Orchestra presents its first concert of the 2009-2010 season. The program will feature a bit of Wagner and a bit of Beethoven. Sandwiched between these 19th-century gems will be a gem of another sort. "Emerald Reflections," by St. Louis-based composer Michael Hunt, was premiered in Springfield, Mo. in 1990, and will make its Arizona debut in this performance.

Charles Bontrager, assistant director of orchestral activities, will open the concert with "Rienzi" overture, by Richard Wagner. Perhaps less well known than "Meistersinger," this overture is no less grand and requires all possible forces available to the Philharmonic.

Following Wagner, Bontrager will also lead the ensemble in "Emerald Reflections."

"Emerald Reflections" is based on an Irish folk tune ("Sliabh Bana") and is divided into two sections; the first slow, the second fast. Each section uses specific pitches derived from a tone row to ultimately form the Irish reel "Sliabh Bana," which, at the end of the composition, will be performed in its entirety by a small group of soloists and eventually the entire ensemble.

The second half of the performance will welcome back to the podium Jackson Warren, one of two inaugural fellows of the James E. Rogers Institute for Orchestral and Opera Conducting.

Warren will lead the orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 1, Opus 21, in C Major."

The UA Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the large ensembles vital to the educational and artistic mission of the UA School of Music. In its ranks are music majors and minors, as well as many students and other members of the UA community. The Philharmonic performs a cross section of the orchestral repertoire in a number of concerts each year.