Wells Fargo Joins Austin Symphony Orchestra

PROGRAM

Dvorak - Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88
Carter - Elegy
Bach-Stokowski - Sheep May Safely Graze
Elgar - Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85
On September 11, 2008 - 8:00 p.m.

Maestro Bay opens the evening with Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No 8. Biographer John Clapham summed up Dvorak's position in the long and illustrious 19th-century symphonic heritage: Dvorak emerges unquestionably as one of the most distinctive and distinguished musical personalities of his generation, and he has a place alongside Brahms, Bruckner and Tchaikovsky as one of the three of four greatest composers of symphonic works of his time."

Maestro Bay then pays tribute to American composer Elliott Carter and the centennial of his birth with a performance of his work, Elegy. Originally written in 1943 for cello and piano, Elegy was revised for string orchestra in 1952. Carter was born in New York, majored in English and received his Master's degree from there in 1938. His earlier works were influenced by Stravinsky and Hindemith and are mainly neoclassical in aesthetic. His music after 1950 is typically atonal and rhythmically complex. Currently living in Greenwich Village, one of his latest works will be premiered by pianist Daniel Barenboim and the Boston Symphony this season when the composer turns 100.

After a brief intermission, Maestro Bay and the Austin Symphony Orchestra return to present another tribute, one honoring the memory of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. The orchestra will perform the Leopold Stokowski symphonic transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze."

Maestro Bay then welcomes to center stage the featured guest artist for the evening, cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Mr. Ma makes his long-awaited return to the Austin Symphony stage performing the Cello Concerto of Edward Elgar. In May 2008, Yo-Yo Ma was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. His many-faceted career is a testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences, and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Expanding upon this interest, he established the Silk Road Project to promote the study of the cultural, artistic and intellectual traditions along the ancient Silk Road trade route that stretched from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean.

Concert goers can enjoy “Concert Conversations” with Bob Buckalew at 7:10 p.m. in the concert hall. These discussions provide an in-depth look at the composers and works being performed, including commentary on the social climate in which they were composed. -- www.austinsymphony.org