Event

LUCO: Pines of Rome

WHATLEY Fanfare Giocoso
World Première

MOZART Concerto for Flute and Harp
with Virginia Knight, flute & Juliet Stratton, harp

DE FALLA Ritual Fire Dance

RESPIGHI Pines of Rome

Each Western country has its distinct orchestral wizards, composers with extraordinary talent for creating the most fascinating and sophisticated sounds from an orchestra. Russia has Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, France has Ravel and Debussy, the USA has Gershwin and Ives, Germany has Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, Spain has Manuel de Falla, and for Italy, without a doubt, it's Respighi! Our grand opening program features de Falla and Respighi in works that have become staples of the 20th Century repertoire. A master of ballet music, De Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance" is a famous excerpt from his popular ballet El Amor Brujo. The Pines of Rome is Respighi's second tone-poem of his Roman Trilogy (LUCO performed the third piece, Roman Festivals, in 2008). Each of the four movements depicts pine tree in specific locations in Rome at different times of day.

LUCO is very proud to introduce two of our finest members as soloists. Principal flutist Virginia Knight and harpist Juliet Stratton pair up in a rare duet combination by Mozart.

Opening our concert will be the first of three fanfares composed by university students, winners of a competition designed to provide outstanding young composers with an opportunity to create a piece for full symphony orchestra and have it performed. Fanfare Giocoso (a playful fanfare in 7/8 time throughout!) was composed by Taylor Whatley, a student at Pacific Lutheran University, who will graduate in the spring of 2015 with a Bachelor in Composition.