UC Davis and UOP Symphony Orchestras Perform Extraordinary Work
The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, University of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and the UC Davis Chorus join forces to present the landmark Fourth Symphony of American composer Charles Ives in an overall performing force of some 250. The two symphony orchestras will also perform side by side in Ives's The Unanswered Question. Featured violin soloist Dan Flanagan will perform with the UC Davis Symphony in the lavish Violin Concerto of Jean Sibelius. The performance will take place in Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m.
The performance marks the second collaboration between the UC Davis and UOP symphonies. UOP’s Nicolas Waldvogel will conduct the Ives symphony, a 1915-era work that did not have its first performance until 1965 under Leopold Stokowski. Seldom heard in live performance owing to its extraordinary orchestration, the symphony evokes the appearance of Haley's Comet in May 1910, alongside dozens of fleeting references to familiar American spiritual, parlor, and patriotic songs. Waldvogel will also conduct Ives's familiar miniature, The Unanswered Question, which begins the program.
Dan Flanagan, artistic adviser to the UCDSO, makes his Mondavi Center debut as soloist in the Sibelius. Also making its Mondavi debut is his violin, a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume of 1850, formerly owned by violinist Albert Spalding. The concerto, among the most often recorded in the 20th century, turns from icy to volcanic, and finally ends in a sort of rustic dance. D. Kern Holoman will conduct.
Jonathan Elkus, UC Davis faculty emeritus and editor of the Charles Ives Society’s critical editions of his complete works, along with conductors Nicolas Waldvogel and D. Kern Holoman, are available for interview by request.
Tickets for are $10/13/16 for adults and $5/6.50/8 for students and children. Purchase tickets online at MondaviArts.org, through the Mondavi Center ticket office at 530-754-ARTS (2787) or 866-754-ARTS (toll-free), or at the door. Accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request.
For complete event information, to receive a Department of Music 2007–08 season brochure, or to join the department mailing list, call 530-752-0948 or visit music.ucdavis.edu/events.