PROGRAM NOTES AND COMPOSER FEATURE

The NRO’s season concludes with musical enlightenment — and pyrotechnics. Michael Stern and the orchestra begin with Rainbow Body a graceful work by Christopher Theofanidis that pays homage to the music of medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen and explores the Tibetan Buddhist concept of “rainbow body,” the transformation of an enlightened being’s body into light energy. This journey of mindfulness through luminous music will have you meditating on orchestral brilliance.

Written when he was only 23, Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante for Violin and Viola is a certified masterpiece. NRO violinist Annamaria Vasmatzidis and NRO violist Isaac King will put their talents to the test in this gorgeous concerto. The ethereal slow movement will have you in tears, and the finale will make you want to dance — it is that good!

For sheer excitement, there’s hardly anything better than a tone poem by Richard Strauss, and Ein Heldenleben is one of his best. This thinly veiled autobiographical take on musical heroics showcases every section in the orchestra — a fitting end to a brilliant season. Savor this concert and start counting the days until the next NRO Summer Music Festival!

© Eric T. Williams

Riverwalk Center, Breckenridge

Saturday, August 12 at 6:00 PM

A concert to benefit First Responders

Michael Stern, conductor

Annamaria Vasmatzidis, violin

Isaac King, viola

Jory Lane, concertmaster

ON THE PROGRAM

Christopher Theofanidis (b. 1967)

Rainbow Body

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Sinfonia concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 364 (320d)

Annamaria Vasmatzidis, violin

Isaac King, viola

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Andante

III. Presto

-INTERMISSION-

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Ein Heldenleben

Jory Lane, concertmaster

I. Der Held (The Hero)

II. Des Helden Widersacher (The Hero’s Adversaries)

III. Des Helden Gefährtin (The Hero’s Companion)

IV. Des Helden Walstatt (The Hero at Battle)

V. Des Helden Friedenswerke (The Hero’s Works of Peace)

VI. Des Helden Weltflucht und Vollendung (The Hero’s Retirement from this World and Completion)

Composer Feature

Christopher Theofanidis

Christopher Theofanidis (b. 12/18/67 in Dallas, Texas) has had performances by many leading orchestras from around the world, including the London Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists, the National, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit Symphonies, and many others. He also served as Composer of the Year for the Pittsburgh Symphony during their 2006-2007 Season, for which he wrote a violin concerto for Sarah Chang.

Mr. Theofanidis holds degrees from Yale, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, and has been the recipient of the International Masterprize (hosted at the Barbican Centre in London), the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, six ASCAP Gould Prizes, a Fulbright Fellowship to France, a Tanglewood Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Charles Ives Fellowship.

His orchestral concert work, Rainbow Body, has been one of the most performed new orchestral works of the last ten years, having been performed by over 100 orchestras internationally.