GERSHWIN, RACHMANINOFF, & TRANE
Classically inspired season-opening concerts.
Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, & Trane
Saturday
Sep 26
7:30pm
Sunday
Sep 27
3:00pm
From just $28
One hour and fifty minutes, with one fifteen-minute intermission.
Program
Winston-Salem Symphony
Robert Young Saxophone
Michelle Merrill Conductor
George Gershwin
arr. Robert Russell Bennett
Symphonic Portrait on Porgy & Bess
16 minutes | Program Notes
Guillaume Connesson
A Kind of Trane
25 minutes | Program Notes
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphonic Dances
37 minutes | Program Notes
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Winston-Salem Symphony / Robert Franz
January 2019
Our 80th season-opening celebration coincides with the centennial celebration of High Point native John Coltrane, who left an enduring legacy in the jazz idiom. Saxophonist Robert Young brings Coltrane’s influence to bear in a recent concerto by Guillaume Connesson. Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Rachmaninoff’s fiery Symphonic Dances, two of the rare orchestral pieces that include saxophone, round out this program.
MICHELLE on MUSIC
Music Director Michelle Merrill introduces us to this exciting season-opener of music from Porgy & Bess, Rachmaninoff’s fiery Symphonic Dances, and a concerto inspired by a local jazz icon.
Saturday
Sep 26
7:30pm
Sunday
Sep 27
3:00pm
THE UPBEAT | Pre-Concert Conversation
Saturday at 6:30 PM | Sunday at 2:00 PM
All audience members are invited to join us in the Judy Voss Jones Fine Arts Center, directly behind Reynolds Auditorium on its west side, for a lively discussion about the music and surrounding context. Local musicologist Dr. Megan Francisco is your guide—THE UPBEAT is free to attend, and occurs one hour before the concert.
Plan Your Visit
Reynolds Auditorium
301 N. Hawthorn Rd.
Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Rideshare and Dining
What will my view be like?
While Reynolds Auditorium’s sightlines and sound are best enjoyed in the Mezzanine, Orchestra-level seating also offers superb viewing and sound, especially in rows F through O. Please bear in mind that Reynolds Auditorium is a historic venue; there is no elevator, thus the Mezzanine and Balcony levels are only accessed via stairs. Accessible seating is available on the Orchestra level at the rear of the house and along the outside left and right.
Robert Young, saxophone
Hailed as “uncommonly expressive… and technically prodigious” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Robert Young connects with audiences through a blend of virtuosity and authenticity. Praised for his “effortless expression” (The Saxophonist Magazine), Young maintains a distinguished career as a soloist and chamber musician.
Recent highlights include Guillaume Connesson’s concerto, A Kind of Trane, with the Berkeley Symphony, alongside solo appearances with the Omaha Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, and the North Carolina Symphony. He has also appeared with the United States Navy Band and the Zagreb Soloists.
An active chamber musician, Young performed on the GRAMMY Award-winning album Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century with the PRISM Quartet and The Crossing. Currently on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he is a Conn-Selmer Artist, D’Addario Artist/Clinician, and Key Leaves ambassador.
Michelle Merrill, conductor
WSS Music Director Michelle Merrill served four years as the Assistant and then Associate Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and also serves as the Music Director of the Coastal Symphony of Georgia, where she has ignited the growth and expansion of the orchestra’s offerings both on and off the stage. Ms. Merrill is a proud recipient of a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award as well as the prestigious 2013 Ansbacher Conducting Fellowship as awarded by members of the Vienna Philharmonic and the American Austrian Foundation, which enabled her to be in residence at the world-renowned Salzburg Festival.