Friday-Sunday, February 19-21, 2021
Gemma New, guest conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Jan Kraybill, organ
GABRIELLA SMITH Field Guide
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, “Organ”
This program will warm your heart. We’re firing up the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ to reprise Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Organ” Symphony with Grammy® Award-nominated and local organ superstar Jan Kraybill at the bench. While our 2015 Grammy-nominated album garnered high praise, nothing compares to hearing this exultant work live in Helzberg Hall. Saint-Saëns’ Third is quintessential 19th-century French music with its rounded fullness, magnificent orchestral colors and ethereal textures. From the soft sparkle of the third movement to the triumphant organ blast in the finale, this symphony will blow you away.
With his “dreamy lyricism and heated intensity” (New York Times) Benjamin Beilman displays his passion and technical merits in Sibelius’ Violin Concerto as guest conductor Gemma New leads us on a warm-hearted journey of transformation. Much like the Saint-Saëns, the Sibelius opens with plenty of soul-searching and concludes with an impressive and challenging finale.
From exotic, irresistible bird songs and frog calls to steadily growing and propulsive sound layers, Gabriella Smith’s Field Guide combines natural and urban grooves to morph Helzberg Hall into part jungle and part bird sanctuary. Or in the words of conductor New, “It’s fun; it’s cool.”
