Join the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra at the Public Hall, Liskeard, 21st November at 5:30pm and Plymouth Guildhall, 24th November at 7:30pm. These concerts were originally scheduled for 2020 to coincide with Mayflower 400, commemorating the historic journey of the Mayflower ship’s sailing from England to America, www.mayflower400uk.org.
The programme features a selection of American and American-inspired symphonic works including Gershwin’s popular Rhapsody in Blue (Plymouth concert only) played by renowned pianist Joanna MacGregor CBE. Gershwin was the pianist for the premiere in New York in 1924 which was for solo piano and jazz orchestra. In 1926 it was re-scored for symphony orchestra and has become one of the most frequently performed pieces of American musical history. Joanna, currently Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and Professor at the University of London, is one of the world’s most innovative musicians, appearing as a concert pianist, curator and collaborator.
Also being performed are Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Dvorak’s Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World’. Bernstein’s West Side Story was a ground-breaking treatment of Shakespeare’s tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet. The work changed the shape of Broadway musicals, and the popularity of the Symphonic Dances has never waned.
Dvorak’s Symphony No.9 was composed in 1893 when he was director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. It not only brims over with melody and drama but also tenderness and ferocity and is one of the most popular in its genre.
We hope that you will take this opportunity to join us and support the PSO’s long awaited return to live classical music!
The Plymouth Symphony Orchestra is one of the longest-established orchestras in the country and attracts many distinguished soloists, with Ralph Kirshbaum, Guy Johnston, Tasmin Little, Joanna MacGregor CBE, Michael Petrov and Savitri Grier amongst the soloists who have performed with the orchestra.
For ticket information visit plymouthsymphony.co.uk