April 2, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Richmond Symphony pairs Springtime Brews and Symphony Sounds with Upcoming Rush Hour Concert

Rush Hour 4
Thursday, April 25 at 6:30pm
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

April 2, 2019 – Richmond, Virginia: There’s no time like the springtime for a Richmond Symphony Rush Hour concert! Join us for Rush Hour at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery on Thursday, April 25 at 6:30pm. Conducted by Chia-Hsuan Lin with soloist David Lemelin on clarinet, the program will feature works from Copland, Schubert, and Spohr. Enjoy a dish from one of the food trucks parked outside the venue, complimented by one of Hardywood’s delicious brews. Who could say no to dinner, drinks, and a show?

Copland paved the way for a truly American “classical” music, beginning with his work Music for the Theatre. Despite its title, the composer admitted he “had no play or literary idea in mind. The title simply implies that at times this music has a quality which is suggestive of the theatre.” The budding nationalism that comes to fruition in Copland’s later works is evident in this piece. Copland turned to jazz to represent the American identity: “I was preoccupied with the idea of adding to the great history of serious music something with an American accent… [Jazz] was an easy way to be American.”

“Party Animal” isn’t quite the term that should be used to characterize Franz Schubert, but it is close. In his twenties, while producing prodigious amounts of music, he lived the life of a “bohemian” couch-hopping from friend’s houses and hosting the nineteenth-century version of jam sessions, which he called “Schubertiades.” When Schubert wrote Symphony in C major, the music of Gioacchino Rossini was currently the rage in Vienna and Schubert modeled much of this music on Rossini’s light-hearted style. The only performance this symphony received during Schubert’s lifetime was during a Schubertiade.

When Louis Spohr wrote his first concerto for clarinet, the instrument had only five keys, compared to the seventeen of a modern clarinet. He confessed that he really didn’t know what he was doing. Aside from the obvious virtuosic aspects of Spohr’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1, the piece contains some unusual elements. It is in a minor key, and the orchestra plays a slow introduction. The slow movement confines the accompaniment to just violins and cellos. In spite of the minor key, the third movement has a jaunty quality to it. Instead of ending with a technical flourish, there is a surprising and sudden fade to nothing.

Our Rush Hour concerts tend to sell out, so purchase your tickets early! The 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.

This Rush Hour concert is generously sponsored by Markel.

Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 6:30 PM

RICHMOND SYMPHONY

Rush Hour at Hardywood

Chia-Hsuan Lin, conductor

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