Two young artists are featured in this week’s Berkeley Symphony concert. Making their Bay Area debuts, composer Hannah Kendall and pianist Andrew Tyson, arrive with a string of successes behind them.
A third young and promising talent, conductor Jonathon Heyward, was also slated to make his Bay Area debut at the Berkeley Symphony concert, but the orchestra announced last weekend that Heyward had fallen ill and will be replaced by Joseph Young, who has served as assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony and music director Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Berkeley Symphony regrets to announce that guest conductor Jonathon Heyward has fallen ill and is unable to travel to Berkeley to conduct Britten & Bernstein, January 31, 2019 at 8pm as planned. Taking his place on the podium is guest conductor Joseph Young @YOUNGconductor. pic.twitter.com/lRvNfdWjrz
— Berkeley Symphony (@BerkeleySymph) January 27, 2019
Thursday evening in Zellerbach Hall, the orchestra’s program features the world premiere of Kendall’s “Disillusioned Dreamer,” and Tyson joins the orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety.” Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” from “Peter Grimes” rounds out the program.
Kendall, one of the few female composers featured on Bay Area orchestral programs this season, is another rising star. The London native’s music has been performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony and the BBC Singers. In 2015, she was awarded the “Women of the Future” award for arts and culture. Her works include the chamber opera “The Knife of Dawn.” A newer Kendall score, titled “Verdala,” will be premiered this summer at the BBC Proms, conducted by George Benjamin.
Her “Disillusioned Dreamer” is inspired by a phrase from Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel, “Invisible Man,” a landmark work exploring the African-American experience.
Tyson, who’s been described as “a real poet of the piano,” rounds out the program’s trio of young artists. He’s made recent debuts with Vienna’s Haydn Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gilmore Rising Stars recital series, among others. His performance links to Kendall’s in an intriguing literary way: Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 was inspired by another 20th-century masterpiece, W. H. Auden’s “The Age of Anxiety.” As part of Thursday’s concert, the Berkeley Symphony is engaging a group of Bay Area actors to read excerpts from both works. Details: Berkeley Symphony performs Bernstein, Britten and Hannah Kendall; 8 p.m. Jan. 31, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $15-$96; 510-841-2800; www.berkeleysymphony.org.
BLOMSTEDT WEEK: The San Francisco Symphony has had what seems like dozens of guest conductors in recent seasons. This week brings one of the most beloved: Herbert Blomstedt, who is the Symphony’s conductor laureate. In his annual return to Davies Symphony Hall, he’ll lead two 19th-century masterworks – Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” – both brimming with melodic invention and picturesque charm. Details: 8 p.m. Jan. 31-Feb. 2, Davies Hall, S.F.; $34-$185; 415-864-6000; www.sfsymphony.org.
ALEXANDERS IN THE A.M.: Here at Classical Notes, we often get mail from readers who love music but no longer go out at night. Here’s a tip for our early bird friends: check out the Alexander String Quartet’s Saturday morning series hosted by music scholar Robert Greenberg. Past seasons have seen Greenberg and the quartet cover Bach, Beethoven, Shostakovich and other eminent composers. This weekend marks the start of an especially appealing four-concert series titled “Brahms and the Schumanns: A Love Triangle for the Ages.” The dates are Feb. 2 and 9, March 23, and May 18, with separate admission for each installment. Details: 10 a.m. Feb. 2, Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; $40-$60; 415-392-2545; www.sfperformances.org.
A ‘VIENNESE PIVOT’:“ Violinist Rachel Barton Pine joins the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra next week for a program titled “Viennese Pivot,” with music drawn from the late 19th century’s transition from Classicism to Romanticism. Music director Nicholas McGegan conducts Mozart’s Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro” and Schubert’s beguiling Symphony No. 6 in C Major. In between, Pine joins the orchestra in the Violin Concerto in D Major by Franz Clement – a violin virtuoso whose score inspired Beethoven to write his own violin concerto the very next year. Details: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6, First Methodist Church, Palo Alto; repeats 8 p.m. Feb. 8, Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; 8 p.m. Feb. 9, and 4 p.m. Feb. 10, First Congregational Church, Berkeley; $32-$120; 415-392-4400; www.philharmonia.org.
FREE TO THE FURLOUGHED: The Oakland Symphony, in acknowledgement of the devastating impact the government shutdown is having on federal workers across the Bay Area community, is offering two free tickets to the orchestra’s next concert to any furloughed federal worker. Those impacted by the shutdown can contact 510-444-0802 or visit the Symphony’s office at 1440 Broadway, Oakland. The offer is good for the duration of the shutdown and one month beyond its end date. More information at www.oaklandsymphony.org.
Contact Georgia Rowe at growe@pacbell.net.