Tacoma, WA – On Sunday, May 18, the Tacoma Youth Symphony will present “Magic, Power, and New Beginnings.” New beginnings can be as subtle as a whisper or as loud as a symphony orchestra. In this final concert of the season, the Tacoma Youth Symphony will explore the magic and power of new beginnings. This concert is dedicated to the memory of TYSA Founder, Virginia Morrison.
The Tacoma Youth Symphony will be collaborating with the Tacoma Youth Chorus on three works. The concert will open with two pieces by Rollo Dilworth. I Dream a World is based on a poem by Langston Hughes in which Hughes envisions a world where all will know peace and freedom. When Dreams Take Flight is based on the poem Dreams by Paul Laurence Dunbar, who explores the power of dreams, their fleeting nature, and the obstacles that can keep them from being fulfilled. The concert will conclude with Ruth Moody’s One Voice, a moving testament to the power of unity and a call to come together.
Eighteen-year-old student soloist, Leah Everling, will join the Tacoma Youth Symphony for a performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Ms. Everling is a senior at Gig Harbor High School. Currently a member of the Tacoma Youth Symphony, Leah has been a member of TYSA since 2017. She will be performing the first movement of the Concerto that Shostakovch composed for his former student, Mstislay Rostropovich. Composed in 1959, Rostropovich first performed the Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Leningrad Philharmonic.
Stravinsky’s magical Firebird Suite (1919) will also be performed. Igor Stravinsky was virtually unknown in 1909 when Serge Diaghilev, the director of the Ballets Russes, approached him to compose music for a ballet based on the Firebird. The ballet comes from a Russian fairy tale in which Prince Ivan captures the magical Firebird and then agrees to release her if she will give him one of her feathers. After releasing the bird, the Prince meets thirteen princesses who are held captive by the evil sorcerer, Kastchei. With the help of the Firebird, Prince Ivan battles Kashchei and his monsters, freeing the princesses. The ballet premiered on June 25, 1910, and the young composer became an instant celebrity. He went on to create three suites from the music from the ballet and over the course of his lifetime, he conducted music from the Firebird more than one thousand times.
Tickets are on sale now! To purchase tickets go to www.tysamusic.org.
Season sponsors are the Tacoma Arts Commission, Tacoma Creates, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Program supporters are ArtsFund, Sound Surgical Arts, the University of Puget Sound School of Music, and Weddermann Architecture.
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