Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@uc_ccm’s Philharmonia and Wind Symphony combined for a fabulous program celebrating the music of American composer Jennifer Higdon (@jenniferhigdon1) as she continues a weekend-long residency. The Philharmonia led the first half with thrilling performances of three of her most well-known orchestral works: a movement from her 2002 orchestral triptych City Scape and two Grammy-winning solo concertos.
Soloist Gabriel Caal and student conductor Alfonso Keller-Casielles brought a subdued yet warmly luscious sound to Higdon’s Viola Concerto (2015, Grammy winner in 2018), with technical flourishes and long, flowing melodies recalling John Adams and Dimitri Shostakovich’s viola sonata of 1975 (particularly in that instrument’s lowest registers). Harp soloist Emily Stone followed with a gorgeous, spellbindingly scintillating performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto (2018), which won the 2020 Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. While not as technically challenging as, say, Alberto Ginastera’s harp concerto, it is a welcome addition to that instrument’s repertoire. Stone’s playing was prayerful, sprightly, wonderfully rich and sweetly voiced reminiscent of a soft classical guitar, particularly in the concerto’s first and third movements.
CCM’s Wind Symphony under music director Kevin Michael Holzman and student conductor Angelo Anton opened the second half with exciting readings of two of Higdon’s most unique scores, Fanfare Ritmico (2002) and blue cathedral (written for orchestra in 1999 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and transcribed in 2020 by Ryan Nowlin). Faculty percussion soloist Adam Groh rounded out the evening with an amazing performance of Higdon’s Percussion Concerto (written for Colin Currie in 2005 and a 2010 Grammy winner). Groh truly let his mallets fly with the whirring machinery that is the level of virtuosity required, including extended cadenzas primarily using drum kit, wood blocks and cymbals powerful and loud enough to both fill Corbett Auditorium with sound and frighten any audience member.
What a fantastic way to open what is truly one of the most exciting weekends in CCM’s history.