Join Mission Chamber Orchestra (MCOSJ) for "Symphonies and Memories" on Saturday evening, February 24, at San Jose's Hammer Theatre Center. The concert is led by guest conductor Thomas Shoebotham, one of four finalists in MCOSJ's search for a new Music Director.
"The works on this program all appeal to me for their freshness and direct emotional appeal," says Thomas Shoebotham. "Nancy Bloomer Deussen's work, written in 2006 to commemorate the tragic events of 9/11, is moving and somber, while the Samuel Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is a nostalgic look back at childhood, feeling the love of parents and other kind people. The Dvořák Symphony no. 8 is a work that I have conducted several times in the past, and it always seems to me completely new and exciting, absolutely sincere and unaffected in its expression!"
Thomas Shoebotham is currently Chief Conductor of The New Ballet in San Jose. He has impressed audiences and critics alike with his musicality, versatility, and "masterful command of pacing, dynamics, and color." He works frequently with professional, community, and youth ensembles to create "rousing, colorful" performances. He has chosen a program of works that evoke emotions and memories of particular times and places.
We are delighted to have celebrated Guyanese American soprano Shawnette Sulker joining us as soloist in Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Sulker has been praised for her "heart-breaking poignancy" (San Francisco Chronicle) and for her "enchanting vocal splendor" (Leipziger Volkszeitung). She is a consummate performer who has starred in opera and on the concert stage in the US and globally, including as a featured performer at San Francisco Opera, notably in their production of Porgy and Bess.
Samuel Barber's work is a setting of a text by James Agee, describing an evening at home in a small town. "Agee's poem was vivid and moved me deeply, and my musical response was immediate and intense," Barber wrote, "the summer evening he describes ... reminded me so much of similar evenings when I was a child at home." The work was composed in 1948, in the post-WWII years and at a time when Barber was dealing with the final illnesses of his father and beloved aunt, yet it perfectly recalls peaceful life in small towns throughout America in the innocent time before the country entered WWI.
Nancy Bloomer Deussen's A Field in Pennsylvania is a solemn response to a more disturbing time, a memorial to the heroism and struggle of the crew and passengers of Flight 93 on September 11th. In contrast, Elgar's Serenade for Strings is filled with the English countryside in the peace of the Victorian era, while Dvořák's Symphony no. 8 shows the composer at his most "nationalistic" for his native Bohemia, evoking the Czech landscape that he loved.
Don't miss the chance to explore these memories with us - reserve your tickets now and join us for this evening of inspiring music in a relaxed, intimate environment. With ticket prices held at pre-pandemic prices and our "pay what you can afford" option, it's a concert everyone can enjoy.