IT'S ALMOST HERE: OUR 66th CONCERT SEASON!
Our 2023-24 concert season launches this weekend with Echos of Empire, exploring works by Richard Strauss, Hristo Yotsov, and Ottorino Respighi. Expect to be exhilarated, amused, and emotionally moved by these memorable pieces!
Echos of Empire will open with Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegal, a playful comic masterpiece exploring the relationship between authority and freedom through the story of a medieval prankster. You’ll be delighted by the clever ways Strauss’s instrumentation expresses the characters and storyline.
Next we’ll enjoy a wildly entertaining Concerto for Drumset and Orchestra by Bulgarian composer Hristo Yotsov, which will feature soloist Shun Lopez, winner of the 2019 San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. This one-of-a-kind work brings together the bold creativity of Yotsov and the drumming prowess of this talented young musician.
Finally, we’ll journey to ancient Rome with Respighi’s Pines of Rome, which showcases colorful pictorial depictions of the eternal city. You’ll be swept up in the cinematic vastness of the orchestra’s sound in this dazzling symphonic portrait.
Santa Cruz Symphony bids a very fond farewell to Nigel Armstrong, who will move on to other career opportunities following this concert. Your can read our tribute to Nigel here.
ABOUT SOLOIST SHUN LOPEZ
At only four years old, Shun Kodaira-Lopez began his musical career with keyboard lessons in his home city of Tokyo. Two years later, he began additional lessons in percussion and drums. At age eight he met his mentor, a graduate of the New England Conservatory and an accomplished pianist, composer, and conductor known for his work in Japanese television. With his new mentor, Shun embarked on intensive musical training for the next two years, including the keyboard, drums, piano, and digital music.
When he was nine, Shun won the Grand Prize in the V-Drums World Championship Japan Final 2012, a national competition. To pursue his interest in jazz fusion, he began taking lessons from the famed and accomplished master drummer and educator, Tommy Igoe. Shun performed in the San Francisco Youth Orchestra from 2018 to 2021, where he joined that orchestra's Europe Tour in summer 2019. They performed in multiple cities, including Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest. Shun says that this was his best memory as an SF Youth Orchestra member. We're delighted to feature this gifted performer in our first program of the season!
CALLING ALL SUBSCRIBERS! If you haven't received your tickets yet, please call us at 831-462-0553 or email us at office@santacruzsymphony.org.
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