Bridgeport, CT - ¡Bienvenidos amigos! Greater Bridgeport Symphony welcomes the music of the Caribbean and Spain on October 28, 2017 with its ¡Arriba España! concert at The KIein in Bridgeport. This will be the second of GBS’ 2017-18 series Revolutions and Revelations, an exploration of the effects of political revolutions on music. Guest conductor Donald Palma will lead GBS through a night of Latin American and Spanish rhythms.
¡Arriba España! centers around Joaquin Rodrigo’s guitar concerto Concierto de Aranjuez, a composition written at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Noted guitarist and composer Benjamin Verdery will solo on this evocative piece, considered a calming influence after the tumult of Civil War. For many years, the music was used by Spanish politicians to celebrate the victory of Franco, but it is, in reality, an emotional autobiography of Rodrigo himself.
The concert features Tumbao from Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra’s Sinfonia No. 3, “La Salsa,” a spirited contemporary Classical work. “We’ve been wanting to perform music like this for a long time now,” saysGBS Music Director Eric Jacobsen. “This music is a part of the culture of our community, and we are very excited to bring it to The Klein!”
Also, to be performed are works by Argentinean Alberto Ginastera and Spaniard Manuel de Falla, as well as a short piece by cellist Pablo Casals. Casals’ Song of the Birds was Casals’ opening piece for all of his concerts. Casals was forced to leave Spain after the Civil War, and always dedicated El cant dels ocels to “the soul of my country, Catalonia.”
Guest conductor Donald Palma, himself a noted bassist, is thrilled with the opportunities presented by the music. “We’re looking forward to celebrating the incredible contributions by Hispanic composers with exhilarating music from Puerto Rico, Argentina and Spain, impeccably performed by the fine artists of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.”
“This concert will be a two-way introduction,” says GBS Executive Director Mark R. Halstead. “For our audience, it’s an introduction to the symphonic music of Latin America and Spain. For the Latino community in and around Bridgeport, we hope it will introduce orchestral music to a new audience, who we hope will come back again and again. GBS takes very seriously its role as artistic beacon in Bridgeport, for all the many cultures in our area.”
Families are encouraged to attend this event by taking advantage of GBS’ Family Pack discount. Those under 19 are eligible for $10.00 tickets (any seat in the house), while accompanying adults get a 15% discount. A family of five can come to the concert for just $55.50. “It’s a better value than most of the movies out today,” says GBS President Jean Moffitt.
Tickets are $15.00 to $59.00, and three-concert Silver Subscriptions are still available for ¡Arriba España! plus any of GBS other three concerts this season. Ticketing fees apply to all purchases. Tickets may be bought online at www.GBS.org, or by calling (203)576-0263.
About Donald Palma:
A graduate of the Juilliard School, Professor Palma studied with Frederick Zimmermann, Robert Brennand, Orin O’Brien, and Homer Mensch. A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he has also been principal bass of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the American Composers Orchestra. He is currently bassist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with which he has toured the world and recorded over fifty compact discs for Deutsche Grammophon including a Grammy Award winning CD of Stravinsky works. Professor Palma has performed with the Juilliard Quartet, the Nash Ensemble, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Da Camera Society of Houston, and the Borromeo Quartet, and in recital with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Jan DeGaetani. He was music director of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and is currently music director of the Symphony-by-the-Sea in Marblehead, Mass. Donald Palma’s extensive recordings include diverse offerings from works of Elliott Carter and Charles Wuorinen to a Wagner Ring Cycle with the Metropolitan Opera to recordings with Kathleen Battle and pop icon Sting. He has given master classes at the Toho School, the Juilliard School, Rice University, the San Francisco Conservatory, Boston University, the Hartt School and the Manhattan School of Music. Professor Palma joined the Yale faculty in 1992.