FRI 15 OCT 2004
Spokane Symphony reaches out to younger audience
By Jon RossArts & Culture Editor
The Big Easy may be the newest venue for classical music.
The Spokane Symphony, with guest artist Greg Yasinitsky, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the rock ‘n’ roll concert hall as part of the orchestra’s “Symphony on the Edge” program. The event mimics a growing trend in classical music; conductors and performers across the country are searching out unique ways to present the material in order to reach a broader audience.
“Orchestras have been trying to come up with a concept to connect with a younger crowd,” said Eckart Preu, musical director for the Spokane Symphony.
By playing at the Big Easy, Preu said he wants to attract listeners who would not normally be exposed to the kind of music the symphony plays.
“The Big Easy implies something that we don’t normally represent,” he said. Preu is also eager to see if moving the symphony to a more casual performance area has any effect on the players.
“I’m curious about how the orchestra will react,” he said. “We have no idea how it will sound in there.”
Friday’s concert will signal a departure for the ensemble. Instead of playing traditional repertoire that has been performed at the Met and other symphonic venues, Preu chose works that represent the more experimental side of classical music. The symphony will play “stuff that you would not necessarily play in our regular concerts,” Preu said.
“The challenge I had was I wanted to do repertoire that was on the edge, but accessible to the listener,” Preu said. When choosing the pieces, Preu had to remember to pick pieces that were not too far out.
“Then it’s counterproductive,” he said. He defines “on the edge” as “something not normal to that time.” He points out that this definition could fit more avant-garde pieces as well as applying to works such as the last movement of Beethoven’s 7th symphony.
Some of the works being played Friday include a piece written by minimalist John Adams and Charles Ives’ “Putnam’s Camp.” More traditional compositions are also included in the concert, including Prokofiev’s “Cinderella Suite” and Vivaldi’s “Winter” from “The Four Seasons.” Most of the works on Friday’s program have either never been attempted by the ensemble or have not been attempted in a long time.
To get around the extended attention spans that are required to enjoy some of the more lengthy classical works, the symphony will only play one movement or short excerpts from the pieces. The orchestra is playing “a whole bunch of rather short works,” Preu said.
In order to present a new look at the classical genre, the conductor enlisted the help of Washington State University music professor Greg Yasinitsky, who will be playing a piece on the alto saxophone. Yasinitsky will perform the second and fifth movements of Paule Maurice’s “Tableaux de Provence.” The two movements contrast in style and tempo and the fifth movement showcases the technical abilities of the instrument.
Yasinitsky thought the work was a good choice because the saxophone is usually thought of in a jazz context. The saxophone is an instrument that is not normally associated with symphonic music, he said.
Preu said has been mulling the change of venue over in his mind for some time.
“I wanted to (perform) in a cool place,” he said. The conductor thought the symphony would be more approachable in a building with an industrial façade, but a suitable structure could not be found. Preu was trying to find a place for the symphony to perform that sounded good and looked interesting, he said.
A move to the Big Easy will provide a change in atmosphere, but the caliber of the performance will remain the same. The presentation may change, but the quality and interpretation of the music will always stay constant.
“What we are always trying to do is to give music justice,” Preu said.
Arts&Culture Editor: Jon Ross
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