桜 SAKURA in Concert
Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 8 PM
Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall
University of New Orleans
2000 Lakeshore Drive
New Orleans, LA
$25 General, $10 Students (with ID)
Showcasing the great warmth and scope offered by the sound of five cellos, 桜SAKURA presents an engaging and eclectic program spanning five centuries.
In addition to their own arrangement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (which they are workshopping during this residency), 桜SAKURA returns to some of their favorite repertoire during the residency with the goal of “finding new inspiration from the unique sounds and culture of New Orleans.”
One of these pieces, Lament in the Memory of Matthew Shepard by Anne Wilson, was one of the first works the group played together and one of the few pieces in their repertoire that was originally written for five cellos. This loving and compassionate work paints a picture of the tragic story of the young gay man who was tricked, savagely beaten, and ultimately killed as a result of his sexual orientation.
The program additionally includes music by Olivier Messiaen, a set of Renaissance a cappella works ranging from the vulgar to the sublime, a selection of Debussy’s evocative piano preludes, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, and selections from Leonard Bernstein’s beloved West Side Story.
PROGRAM:
• Ludwig van Beethoven (arr. Michael Kaufman): Symphony No. 5
I. Allegro con brio
• Five Renaissance Madrigals:
Orlando di Lasso: Matona mia cara
Orlando Gibbons: The Silver Swan
Adriano Banchieri: Gli cervellini
Carlo Gesualdo: Moro, lasso al mio duolo
Adriano Banchieri: Contrapunto Bestiale
• Claude Debussy (arr. Peter Myers): Preludes
La sérénade interrompue (The interrupted serenade)
La fille aux cheveux de lin (The girl with the flaxen hair)
Minstrels
• Bernstein (arr. Simon Parkin): Suite from West Side Story
• Anne Wilson: Lament in Memory of Matthew Shepard
• Sergei Rachmaninov (arr. Peter Myers): Vocalise
• Olivier Messiaen: O Sacrum Convivium
• Brahms (arr. Peter Myers): Intermezzo in E-flat, op. 117, no. 1