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Ukiah Symphony--"Gershwin Rings in the Season"

Mendocino College Center Theatre
Ukiah, CA

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Ukiah Symphony--"Gershwin Rings in the Season"

Press Release:
Ukiah Symphony Orchestra: Gershwin Rings in the Season

An all Gershwin concert, George that is, will ring in the season with this early 20th century American composer's three finest orchestral works: Cuban Overture, An American in Paris and Concerto in F featuring Berkeley
pianist Roy Bogas. Performances will be on Saturday, December 6th at 8:00 p.m., with a complimentary wine reception provided by Mendocino College Foundation at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, December 7th at 3:00 p.m. at the
Mendocino College Center Theater. Concert sponsors include Guilford & Gudrun Dye Family Fund; Savings Bank of Mendocino County; and "In Memory of Esther Stirling."

Gershwin was a pioneer in infusing jazz with classical, first heard in Rhapsody in Blue, and then with the multiple horn instrumentation (including a taxi horn) in his 1928 composition, An American in Paris. A tone poem, meant to tell a story, it was inspired by his visit to the French capital evoking the sights and energy of this bustling city. Gershwin said, "My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in
Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere."
Cuban Overture, another tone poem, was inspired by his two-week visit to Havana in 1932 and was a huge hit when first performed in Lewisohn Stadium in New York City. Originally titled Rumba, Gershwin did not want it to be considered a novelty item and felt the new title created
"a more just idea of the character and intent of the music." The piece is dominated by Caribbean rhythms, influenced by Cuban music and dance with percussion instruments--bongos, claves, gourds and maracas--creating
a rich and exciting sound. After hearing the première of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in 1924, conductor and director Walter Damrosch commissioned him to write
Concerto in F for solo piano and orchestra. With no formal training in advanced composition, harmony and orchestration, and working under a very tight deadline, he bought books to teach himself the skills. Simultaneously working on three different Broadway musicals, Gershwin
began the score in July of 1925 and was secluded in a practice shack at the Chautauqua Institute to have the forced solitude necessary for a timely completion. He finished the three-piece movement in November and hired a
55-piece orchestra, at his own expense, to run through the first draft.

Roy Bogas, performing the solo piano for the concerto, has been a guest with the Ukiah Symphony many times over the years delighting audiences with his precision performances. He first played with the Community Concert Series and afterward was invited by Ukiah Symphony
conductor Carolyn Hawley to play a Tchaikovsky concerto. He has maintained a relationship with the community and conductor Les Pfutzenreuter says of him, "We have worked so well together; he gives so much back to the orchestra when we rehearse. His musicianship is a joy; when we play with him we are able to perform the great literature written for piano and orchestra."

Tickets are available for $25/adults, $20/seniors, and $5/children under 18 and students with ASB cards at the Mendocino Book Company, 102 South School Street, Ukiah, CA 95482 (707 468 5940); Mail Center, Etc., 207A
North Cloverdale Blvd., Cloverdale, CA 95425, and
www.brownpapertickets.com.