Kansas City Chamber Orchestra’s upcoming concert, “Spanning the Centuries,” will feature a little bit of something for everyone including Gioachino Rossini’s Overture from “La Scala di Seta,” and Mozart’s beloved “Symphony No. 40.” In anticipation of the upcoming concert, guest conductor Ward Holmquist has shared a few thoughts about the joy of humor in music and the comfort of beloved classics.
“In the world of improbable, ludicrous and hilarious musical characterizations of dramatic events, Gioachino Rossini’s compositions remain so fundamentally affixed in our collective conscious that even unclassical ears recognize the style. Its brand is on par with Kleenex®, Frisbee®, and Apple®. Rossini’s heirs, alas, no longer can reap the financial rewards from his evergreen success over the last 150+ years, due to copyright expiration. But that legal freedom has allowed his joyful sounds to freely proliferate. “The La scala di seta” (The Silk Ladder) overture is another Rossini romp, and a tour de force for the woodwinds.”
The program also includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved “Symphony No. 40.”
“Mozart is at least a third of the spinal column of any classical musician’s training, and slides into a listener’s ear canal with a comfortable familiarity like Rossini. I’ve always been drawn to his 40th, probably because I love how he can draw such an unanticipated kaleidoscope of emotions from a minor tonality. For a composer, that’s mastery of craft as well as artistic inspiration. May we be blessed by more composers with resources in both categories.”
“Spanning the Centuries” begins at 8:00 p.m., May 4th, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 11 East 40th Street, Kansas City, Missouri. The Pre-concert Talk with conductor Ward Holmquist about the music and composers will begin at 7:00 p.m. Individual tickets range from $20 to $30; senior and student discounts are available. Purchase tickets online at KCChamberOrchestra.org, Eventbrite or (816) 235-6222.
