Taking the first steps toward building a resident student orchestra befitting the glorious concert hall it will call home, the Sonoma State University Symphony Orchestra gives its inaugural performance on Friday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Hall at the university's Green Music Center.
"To have an student orchestra on the stage in Weill Hall, this is, in fact, an historic event," says Music Dept. Chair Brian Wilson. "We are so thrilled."
"Weill Hall attracted me the minute I walked into it the first time I came to campus," says Alexander Kahn, director of the new Sonoma State University Symphony Orchestra. "It's just such an incredible acoustic space."
The program opens with an invitation to join the orchestra as it begins its historic journey: John Corigliano's "Invitation to the Voyage," a mesmerizing work for string orchestra based on a poem by Charles Baudelaire. "I picked that because it's sort of an invitation to the orchestra, an invitation to join us in this process as we start the orchestra program here at Sonoma State," says Kahn.
The concert continues with a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 featuring Sonoma State faculty pianist Marilyn Thompson, whose chamber music Trio Navarro has been receiving critical acclaim for over 20 years in the North Bay. "It's filled with so much passion, drama and intrigue," says Kahn. "Marilyn is just such an incredible, incredible musician. The students are really excited to play with her."
On the second half of the program is another great first: Beethoven's spritely and spirited Symphony No. 1. "Any orchestra anywhere in the world will be playing a Beethoven piece at least once or twice per season," says Kahn. "It's sort of the bread and butter of the field."
The orchestra currently has just under 40 players in its first semester, made up of students and community members. It will grow to about 70 musicians, performing pieces from the Baroque to contemporary works each semester. Tickets for the concert are $8 (student tickets are free) and available online or at the door.
Many players are also in the university's symphonic wind ensemble, previously the largest ensemble offered by the music department. It will remain, as will other groups like the Latin jazz ensemble, SSU chorus, and chamber singers, among others.
Kahn joined the Sonoma State music faculty this semester. He was previously a tenured music professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania where he was director of a similar student orchestra. He holds a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and a Graduate Performance Diploma in orchestral conducting from the Peabody Institute at John's Hopkins University.
Watch the full performance here.