Youth symphony performs Sunday
T■ his Sunday puts the younger symphony orchestra players of Texarkana in the spotlight when the Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra performs. The TYSO presents their annual spring concert at the Sullivan Performing Arts Center and John Thomas Theatre starting at 3 p.m. The admission for this show, under the conductor’s guidance of Steve Bennett, is free.
It’s an ambitious, enjoyable program planned for the afternoon, starting with
Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and
Juliet Overture.” That selection is followed by the first movement of Schubert’s
“Symphony No. 8 in B Minor,”
Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” from “La
Giocanda,” Brahms’ fourth movement of his “Symphony No. 1,” Leroy Anderson’s “Bugler’s Holiday” and Robert W. Smith’s “Rites of Tamburo.”
As well, the TYSO will likely perform a piano trio composed by Schubert that features the concertmaster violinist, a cellist and a pianist. Most of these selections are quality arrangements, the conductor said, noting he wants his young musicians exposed to this music. They respond to the challenge, even if it’s a little above their ability, he said.
“We’re doing more classical literature this year than I have done in the past,” Bennett said. That’s the standard orchestral music, rather than pops selections. He has a large senior class to work with this year, many of his musicians in high school but others are young as 10 years old.
“They just kind of work their way up. They’re in it for eight years or so,” Bennett said. In total, the TYSO numbers about 50. When they began about 10 years ago, that number was about 15 students, so the TYSO has grown.
About the Tchaikovsky selection, Bennett said, “Everybody hopefully knows the story of ‘Romeo and
Juliet.’ This is sort of a tone poem in which this is a piece that tells a story. We know the Montagues and the Capulets, the feuding.” The music mirrors the types of feelings that permeate the story.
In Schubert, the TYSO presents a selection from the songwriter of his day. “He was your king of songs. Your three-minute pop tunes of today was him back then,” Bennett said. In this selection, however, they’ll perform the opening movement from an unfinished symphony.
Then, with a selection from the opera “La Giocanda,” it’s a three-minute piece of music that should be recognizable to the audience. It’s fast music, a dance, that was used in Disney’s beloved animated movie “Fantasia.”
From there, it’s on to a popular Brahms symphony, the fourth movement of this work. “We’ll pick up where the horns call, the French horns and the flutes and the trumpets are bringing in the theme.” Bennett said. It’s a lyrical theme, very beautiful, he said. It’s also music that people will recognize.
“Brahms, he really writes some great symphonic works here,” the conductor said.
To round out the show, the TYSO presents a composer in Anderson who puts a smile on your face, Bennett said, with songs like “Sleigh Ride” or “The Typewriter.” This particular composition was written for three trumpeters.
“This calls for a trumpet trio. We’re actually going to have four trumpets,” Bennett said, calling it quick and fun and a way to showcase the talent of these students. “They play fantastic,” he said.
“Rites of Tamburo” is a standard band piece with extra percussion in it, a bit different than the selections elsewhere on the program.
Altogether, it adds up to about 40 minutes of music. “This could be close to an hour in length,” said Bennett, who enjoys talking about the history of these pieces.
(The Sullivan Performing Arts Center is located at 3941 Summerhill Road in Texarkana, Texas. More info on the TYSO and the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra: TexarkanaSymphony.org.)