Symphony plans 'Autumn Giants' concert

“Autumn Giants” is the theme of the Glacier Symphony’s second Masterworks series concert.

The concert takes place Nov. 16 and 17 at Flathead High School in Kalispell. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 and 3 p.m. Nov. 17.

The concert will feature compositions that John Zoltek, Glacier Symphony and Chorale’s music director says are considered “giants” in the classical music repertoire.

The show opens with “In Autumn,” an early work by Norwegian Romantic composer Edward Greig, in which the composer uses a folk-inspired tune to depict the various breezes of autumn.

It will be paired with “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor” by Max Bruch and will feature New York City-based French violinist Arnaud Sussmann in the soloist role.

Sussmann is a multi-faceted and compelling artist who performs regularly as a soloist throughout the United States, Central America, Europe and Asia. Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Sussmann studied with Boris Garlitsky and Itzhak Perlman, who chose him to be a Starling Fellow, an honor qualifying him as Perlman’s teaching assistant for two years.

Sussmann has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, El Salvador National Symphony and the Tanglewood Music Center among many others and has performed with many leading artists. His recent recordings include works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Antonin Dvorak.

Zoltek has themed Glacier Symphony’s 31st season as “Song of the Earth,” celebrating the influence of nature on composers over the centuries. The theme continues in this concert with “And God Created the Great Whales,” a work written in 1970 by Alan Hovhaness who is considered a pioneer of world music because he brings actual recorded sounds of haunting whale songs into this score and innovative modern elements into much of his music.

“American composer Hovhaness is one of my favorites because of his unique orchestral effects,” Zoltek said. “The mighty whales are easily imagined throughout the symphony piece, and they bring a powerful, almost cinematic texture to his work.”

An orchestral blockbuster, “The Pines of Rome” by Ottorino Resphigi, will bring the concert to its finale. Zoltek describes the piece as a sonic description of four distinct nature areas around Rome: “Pines of the Villa Borghese,” “Pines near a Catacomb,” “Pines near a Janiculum” and “Pines of the Appian Way.”

“The beautifully serene third movement features pre-recorded sounds of the nightingale, the first time the practice of using recorded sound with an orchestra was used (in 1924),” Zoltek said. “The four movements function as a visual landscape symphony that culminates in one of the most exciting orchestra finales in the repertoire.”

Tickets for the concert can be purchased online at www.gscmusic.org or by calling the box office at 407-7000. Tickets range in price from $15 to $32 in four seating tiers for single adults.

All youths through grade 12 are admitted free to Masterworks concerts.

The Symphony Express free bus service from Whitefish to the concert will be offered Saturday night as well. Call the box office to reserve a seat on the bus.