January 15, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Richmond Symphony Presents Mozart, Mendelssohn and Indonesian-Inspired Works at Rush Hour at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Thursday, January 24 2019 at 6:30pm
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

January 15, 2019 – Richmond, Virginia: Settle in with the Richmond Symphony at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery for the first Rush Hour concert of the new year, Thursday January 24 at 6:30 pm. Exceptional music paired with one of Hardywood’s signature craft beers makes for a relaxing winter evening you can’t refuse. Led by conductor Steven Smith, this 60-minute concert is held in Hardywood’s spacious tasting room. Enjoy a unique combination of pieces from the Western classical cannon unexpectedly paired with recent and exciting works for gamelan, a traditional instrumental ensemble of Indonesia. The gamelan is made up predominantly of percussive instruments like metallophones, played by mallets, and a set of hand-played drums called kendhang which register the beat.

The Symphony No. 25 in G Minor is one of only two symphonies that Mozart wrote in a minor key, out of the nearly one hundred he composed. The piece is saturated with stormy emotion, interspersed with lighter themes throughout the movements. The work’s emotional depth and musical intelligence is often described as Mozart’s first deliberate step from “wunderkind” musician to great composer.

Fanny Mendelssohn’s only known purely orchestral work is Overture in C Major. It begins with a quiet serenity that eventually bursts into an ebullience that can only be associated with the Mendelssohn name (her brother was famed composer Felix Mendelssohn and her grandfather the German philosopher Moses Mendelssohn).  Despite immense talent, her career was undermined by the restrictive standards of the times, and Fanny Mendelssohn died leaving over 500 compositions unpublished.

Born to a family of artists in Pengosekan village in Bali, Dewa Ketut Alit was immersed in Balinese gamelan from early childhood. He is generally acknowledged as the leading composer of his generation in Bali, working to bridge musical traditions. Of his piece Open My Door, he says: “I want to push open a door, entering new spaces. I’m on the road looking for the relationship between gamelan music and western music.”

American composer Evan Ziporyn wrote his piece Ngaben (for Sari Club) in response to the Bali terrorist bombing of October 12, 2002.  “The printed images of Balinese women crying and praying at the blast site overwhelmed me. Suddenly, musical cross-culturalism meant something far different than it had,” Ziporyn said. Originally from Chicago, Ziporyn’s compositions draw from classical, jazz, and world music traditions, resulting in a thoughtful blend of multi-cultural influences.
Our Rush Hour concerts tend to sell out, so purchase your tickets early! Cover charge is $20 with limited seating available. Tickets can be purchased online at richmondsymphony.com or by calling 1.800.514.ETIX. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the door beginning 90 minutes before the concert.

Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 6:30 PM

Hardywood
Richmond Symphony
Rush Hour at Hardywood Series

Steven Smith, conductor
Gamelan Raga Kusuma
Gusti Sudarta, Balinese Master Musician      

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About the Richmond Symphony (www.richmondsymphony.com):

Celebrating its 61st Season in 2018/19, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 300 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy live concerts and radio broadcasts. The Symphony also provides educational outreach programs to over 55,000 students and teachers each year. The Symphony was recently named one of 21 American orchestras selected as a leader in orchestra innovation by the League of American Orchestras through its Futures Fund Initiative. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit www.richmondsymphony.com for more information.

Contacts:
Erin Frye
Marketing and PR Manager
804.788.4717 ext. 121
efrye@richmondsymphony.com

Scott Dodson
Director of Advancement and Patron Communications
804.788.4717 ext. 120
sdodson@richmondsymphony.com