American Panorama, a DSO Winter Music Festival, February 5-26

LEONARD SLATKIN
American Panorama, a DSO Winter Music Festival, February 5-26
American Panorama, a DSO Winter Music Festival, February 5-26
January 10, 2019 leonard slatkin

January 10, 2019

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra reprises its annual Winter Music Festival tradition for a sixth installment, this year celebrating the symphonic repertoire and wide-ranging musical spirit of the United States. American Panorama, a three-week festival from February 5 to 26, includes more than two dozen concerts and events in Orchestra Hall and The Cube at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center.

American Panorama is anchored by six DSO programs in Orchestra Hall led by Music Director Laureate Leonard Slatkin, many of which feature DSO musicians as soloists. The programs include:

    • A “sea to shining sea” festival-opener with Joan Tower’s Sequoia, Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, and Virgil Thomson’s Suite from The Plow That Broke the Plains, plus Leonard Bernstein’s Three Meditations from Mass featuring DSO Principal Cello Wei Yu. February 8 at 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m.
    •   An all-John Williams program with the composer’s Liberty Fanfare and Oboe Concerto featuring DSO Principal Oboe Alexander Kinmonth, plus film music selections from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Memoirs of a Geisha, and others. February 9 at 8 p.m. and February 10 at 3 p.m.
    • Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety” (featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet) as well as Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Cindy McTee’s Adagio for String Orchestra. February 14 at 7:30 p.m. and February 15 at 10:45 a.m.
    • An all-Gershwin program featuring the composer’s Piano Concerto in F (with Thibaudet) and a concert presentation of music from Porgy and Bess featuring soprano Laquita Mitchell, bass-baritone Derrick Parker, and the Wayne State Centennial Choir. February 16 at 8 p.m. and February 17 at 3 p.m.
    • In a program The New York Times called “a tribute to this orchestra’s playful creativity” and named a highlight of the current season, Detroit Symphony Orchestra Associate Concertmaster Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy is featured soloist in Samuel Barber’s lyrical Violin Concerto from 1941, on a program that also includes Leonard Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs with DSO Principal Clarinetist Ralph Skiano and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story paired with John Cage’s famous meditation on silence 4’33” and the world premiere of Kristin Kuster’s Dune Acres. February 21 at 7:30 p.m. and February 22 at 8 p.m.
    • A thrilling closer titled Maximum Minimal with John Luther Adams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean, plus works by Steve Reich and Philip Glass that will highlight the DSO percussion section. February 23 at 8 p.m. and February 24 at 3 p.m.

Outside of Orchestra Hall, The Cube will offer 13 festival events and performances exploring a diverse American cultural landscape. Highlights include a concert by genre-bending guitarist Kaki King featuring a DSO string ensemble; chamber music from Miguel Zenón & Spektral Quartet ;a romantic Valentine’s Day performance by jazz vocalist Brianna Thomas; a set by Detroit electronic musician Shigeto; hip-hop and soul performances by Mumu Fresh, Hardcore Detroit, Mahogany Jones, and others; a tribute to the late Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American composer George Walker featuring Walker’s son Gregory Walker and DSO musicians; and more, like film screenings, yoga, dance, and a wine tasting experience.

And a popular Winter Music Festival tradition returns: an intimate chamber recital at the Steinway Gallery of Detroit featuring DSO musicians performing music by John Corigliano, Gershwin, and Barber on Tuesday, February 12.

Dr. Mark Clague serves as American Panorama’s official scholar-in-residence, and will present pre-concert lectures about the programs one hour prior to each evening and afternoon performance in Orchestra Hall. Clague is an Associate Professor of Musicology, American Culture, and Arts Entrepreneurship & Leadership at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he also serves as Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs.