Symphonic Dances: Come Dance With Us!

The Santa Cruz Symphony is celebrating its 65th year of presenting live, exciting classical music concerts for Santa Cruz County. This year’s opening concert will get your feet moving with 11 symphonic dances from around the world.

Over the centuries, countless compositions have been inspired by the connection between music and dance.

  • In 1879, Johannes Brahms composed 21 Hungarian Dances, based directly on Hungarian folk tunes. The Santa Cruz Symphony will perform Nos. 1 and 5. During the same period, Antonin Dvořák wrote 16 Slavonic Dances using his own melodies in combination with traditional rhythms and patterns from the rich Bohemian folk culture. We will be featuring two of those dances on this concert. 

  • Nearly 75 years later in Shenyang, China, composer Huanzhi Li compiled several Chinese folk tunes into the lively Spring Festival Overture. Traditional drums beat and cymbals crash in this brilliant celebration of the Lunar New Year written in the Western style. 

  • In a truly global embrace, American composer Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser arranged the South African greeting tune, Hlonolofatsa, for a symphonic orchestra. Alongside the usual instruments of a modern orchestra, the piece features a collection of djembes, traditional African drums, and the marimba.

  • Finally, the concert will conclude with the boisterous Huapango, by Mexican composer José Pablo Moncayo. The huapango itself is a style of Mexican folk music from which Moncayo drew his inspiration. To accompany this piece, the Santa Cruz Symphony is pleased to feature Esperanza Del Valle Baile Folclorico from Watsonville as our guest artists. They will thrill the audience with the beauty and excitement of traditional Mexican dance. 

 

You don't want to miss this inspiring opening concert.

We hope to see you this weekend!

A message from Santa Cruz Symphony Board President Linda Burroughs

MUSIC – THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Welcome to the 65th season of the Santa Cruz Symphony. Sixty-five years is a long time to survive in this fragile world of symphonic music, and we are proud to be celebrating another year with you. Because of your support we are strong and looking forward to another incredible year.

We hope we have made it through the bulk of the pandemic and things will start looking a bit more normal, whatever that turns out to be. Our hopes are that you, our wonderful patrons, will feel safe in attending our live musical performances and will continue to support us with your generosity. Maestro Stewart has an outstanding season planned for you, and we hope you will be able to attend every one of our concerts. And invite your friends to enjoy our performances, too. Help spread the word that Santa Cruz has a world-class symphony!

We have an outstanding support team that helps to make our concerts happen. Of course, we are incredibly fortunate to have Danny Stewart as our Maestro, and I couldn’t be more happy knowing that he will be with us for at least 10 more years. Our small staff does an amazing job keeping things organized, creative and moving seamlessly forward. Our Board of Directors is dedicated, hard-working and committed to making sure that Your Symphony remains vital and an important part of our community.

Our mission is to “inspire, educate and engage through artistic excellence, distinctive musical performances and varied activities that celebrate and enhance the cultural vibrancy of our community.” We keep that mission in mind with every decision that we make. We have a strong educational influence in our county with our varied youth and adult education programs. We believe in the power of music, in particular live performances.

If you want to be part of our dynamic team, feel free to contact me or the Symphony office. We always need help in some capacity. Here are some ways you can help: invite your friends to our concerts, join our Board, join the Symphony League, volunteer to be a docent at one of our Youth Concerts or school visits, become a sponsor or donor, contribute to our Endowment, or join our Legacy Society.

Music is transformative and is a universal language for humans and animals. Whenever I played my piano, my previous cats and dogs were drawn to the music and would lay down calmly close to the piano. When we attend outside performances it’s apparent the impact of music when birds suddenly start flying around or sitting peacefully on a nearby tree. Music affects us all, and we’re happy to be part of providing this beautiful music for your enjoyment.

Linda Burroughs, Santa Cruz Symphony Board President

We are excited for our annual Pops Concert!

It's almost time for Your Symphony's final concert of the season, and it's going to be an incredible experience! On June 18 the concepts and imagery of world-renowned local photographer Frans Lanting and the captivating music of Philip Glass will be showcased in LIFE: A Journey Through Time. This multimedia orchestral production celebrates the splendor of life on Earth. LIFE interprets the history of nature’s existence on our planet in seven glorious movements, from its earliest beginnings to its present diversity, in a work that merges the visual and performing arts with life and earth sciences.

Join us before the concert for a street party at 5 pm featuring live music and delicious food and drink right in front of the Civic Auditorium. Then at 6:30 PM, a science panel with leading researchers from UC Santa Cruz — astrophysicist Natalie Batalha, geologist Gary Griggs, geneticist David Haussler, and paleoecologist Paul Koch — will add insights about the evolution of life on Earth. They will be joined onstage by Frans Lanting, who will explain the ideas behind LIFE: A Journey Through Time. This will be the perfect prelude to immersing yourself in the marvelous photos of Frans Lanting and the magical music of Philip Glass by Your Symphony under the direction of Maestro Daniel Stewart, starting at 7:30pm.

We can't wait to see you there!