LOWELL, Mass. /MUSEWIRE – Music News / — On Sunday, February 18, 2024, 3 p.m., The Lowell Chamber Orchestra will present the first Massachusetts performance of Julia Perry’s “Symphony for Violas and Basses,” from a new edition by LCO’s music director Orlando Cela. The new edition looks to celebrate Perry’s centenary of her birth, and provide a clear template from which other ensembles can perform this work from one of America’s most influential and underappreciated composers.

Lowell Chamber Orchestra.

“This work is a fabulous example of Perry’s modernist style,” says LCO music director Orlando Cela. “One can hear Perry as a mature composer, masterfully handling complex rhythms and harmonies, and presenting a piece that moves from the majestic to the introspective, and then to an electrifying ending.”

The concert will also include a world premiere by Martin Max Schreiner – his score being one of the winners of the 2023 LCO Call-for-Scores – and conclude with a rendition of Béla Bartók’s “Music for String Instruments, Percussion, and Celesta.”

Two soloists, Yukiko Shimazaki on piano, and Nikki Huang on marimba – winner of the 2023 LCO Concerto Competition – will also be featured.

The concert is free to attend.

About The Lowell Chamber Orchestra:

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is Lowell’s first and only professional orchestra. We provide the area with an ensemble that presents music at a very high level, of all styles and time periods, entirely free to the general population.

Now in its fifth season, the LCO has presented concerts that encompass established orchestral repertoire as well as multimedia works, stage works, lecture-presentations, and chamber music. As part of its mission of promoting, preserving and educating, the repertoire include works from the Baroque, to current commissions. The LCO has presented over a dozen local and world premieres by Anna Clyne, Brian Raphael Nabors, José Luis Elizondo, Anthony R. Green, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Jeremy Gill, and many others.

Two years ago, the LCO started the “Lowell Threads” initiative, in which composers are commissioned to write pieces around a theme, a genre, or other inspiration. This initiative has helped to promote composers through performances and recordings, earning international exposure and acclaim from the media.

Lowell is a gateway community, rich in cultural diversity but economically challenged in many respects so access to high-quality arts is essential. The interactive nature of the performances allows a personalized entryway to audiences who many not have enjoyed arts programming previously. There is a diverse international and diverse nature of the players as reflective of the Lowell community itself.

There is a diverse international and diverse nature of the players as reflective of the Lowell community itself. The ensemble include, among its professional members, some music students enrolled in local universities, in order to provide them with an opportunity to be mentored by a professional. The performances take place at Middlesex Community College, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and at other venues around the area. Some of these locations allow students to attend concerts without leaving their respective campuses, and allow the public in general to attend a concert at a proper performance space.

The LCO is a member of Lowell City of Learning, working to make Lowell an UNESCO learning city, and Art Pharmacy.

ABOUT EVENT:

Fantastic Landscapes

Sunday, February 18, 3 p.m.

Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center

240 Central Street, Lowell, MA

Presented by Middlesex Community College’s “A World of Music” Concert Series

INFORMATION:

For more information, please visit: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/events

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/9tD_jwXJcKY

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This version of news item first appeared on Musewire.com and is © 2024 Christopher Simmons.