Ask any musician, frequent fine-tuning goes with the territory. That adjusting and calibrating could also apply to the organized ensemble of musicians that we know as a symphony orchestra.
Ahead of its 2023-24 season, Charleston Symphony continues to fine-tune — and, when necessary, quickly pivot.
At a recent concert, for instance, Yuriy Bekker, the symphony’s artistic director, concertmaster and principal pops conductor, had to quickly switch out his precious Guaneri violin for a baton when the scheduled conductor fell ill.
“It was crazy, absolutely crazy,” said Bekker, who had just returned from his son’s Saturday soccer activities when he had to rapidly brush up on the programmed works —a robust offering of Dvořák's Symphony No. 8, in G Major, Op. 88, Charleston composer Edward Hart's A Hymn from "Dunbar Songs," a world premier of Margaret Bonds' "Songs of the Season," and Williams Dawson's "Negro Folk Symphony."
All in all, it was a proposition the conductor found nothing short of terrifying. “But at the end it went very well.”
Composer and classical music scholar David Maves, who was at the concert, concurs.
“If I hadn’t been told, I would have never noticed he’d had no time to prepare," said Maves. "It was a most enjoyable concert.”
There have been other behind-the-scenes shifts and pivots of late. Executive Director Michael Smith, who had previously announced his plans to retire from the role, has announced that he will remain in the position, accepting a request to continue from the board.
As for Bekker, he is more than happy adjusting to this turn of events, too.
Principal Pops Conductor Yuriy Bekker directs the Charleston Symphony during the 2022 Sunset Serenade. File/Henry Taylor/Staff
“Michael is a former musician, so there is this mutual trust and understanding,” he said.
Even so, next season will host plenty of new faces and fancy finger work at the Charleston Gaillard Center’s Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall.
The symphony’s current model will again bring in top-tier conductors and soloists from elsewhere. The structure has informed the season’s programming, with the conductors collaborating on concert selections. And it has also offered the orchestra musicians invaluable ways to cross-pollinate with the visiting talent and to further hone their artistry.
“The orchestra had a huge sound … and also there were a variety of sounds,” Bekker said. “I think it's very interesting for the audience and for musicians to have guest conductors. But also these are not guest conductors. These are really renowned people.”
The model seems to be resonating with audiences, too. Bekker reported ticket sales that beat pre-COVID numbers, as well as more than a few notes of enthusiasm.
“We got so many messages, emails and letters from patrons who absolutely loved the programming and the way the orchestra sounded,” he said.
Yes, classical music lovers can expect Masterworks Series and Pops concerts aplenty, as they have for many years. The coming season will realize its second season of a plan that entailed a significant restructuring, including the departure of its music director, Ken Lam.
Among the soloists slated for the season are pianist Michelle Cann, violinist/conductor Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Amanda Forsyth, cellist Julian Schwarz, violinist Bella Hristova, pianist Maxim Lando and pianist Paul Sánchez.
Charleston Symphony flutist Jessica Hull-Dambaugh works in rehearsal on the first day of the orchestra's 2021-22 season. File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
They will join with an array of conductors set to take the podium for the Masterworks Series, including Bekker, Thomas Wilkins, Zukerman, Carl St.Clair, Gerard Schwarz, William Eddins, Tito Muñoz and Lina González-Granados.
From canonical works to Pops selections to contemporary pieces, the coming season promises all manner of symphonic sounds.
Repertoire highlights from the Masterworks Series include Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Morten Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna,” Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, Jessie Montgomery’s “Starburst,” Verdi’s “Messa da requiem,” Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Michelle Cann performing Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement.
The Pops Series returns with four concerts celebrating movie music, the holiday season, the magic of cirque and the Harlem Renaissance, which continues the symphony’s Project Aurora that focuses on how local music has informed works from near and far.
The 2023-24 season:
Sept. 22-23
Opening Night: Elgar’s “Enigma” with Thomas Wilkins, conductor and Michelle Cann, piano, will showcase three works that premiered during a transformative period in history, between 1899 and 1934: Maurice Ravel’s “Le tombeau de Couperin,” Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement (orch. Trevor Weston) and Edward Elgar: Variations on an Original Theme ("Enigma"), Op. 36.
Oct. 12
POPS: Music of the Movies: Fantasy Films features Conductor Yuriy Bekker and Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus, led by Robert Taylor with music from popular fantasy movies, including “Lord of the Rings,” the Harry Potter series, “Avatar,” “Pirates of the Caribbean" and other high-flying, adventure-filled classics.
Oct. 27-28
“An Evening with Zukerman: Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Vivaldi” features conductor and violinist Pinchas Zukerman with Amanda Forsyth on cello to perform Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin and Cello in B-flat major, Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 47, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.
Nov. 17-18
Conductor Carl St.Clair leads the orchestra, as well as Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and College of Charleston Concert Choir in the concert “Majestic Bruckner: Illuminating Sounds of the Symphony,” which includes Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E major.
Dec. 21-23
The seasonal favorite Holiday Pops! again features Bekker as conductor, as well as vocalists including Gracie and Lacy, The Charlestones, baritone Jason McKinney and Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus with new holiday tunes, traditional carols, audience sing-alongs and more.
Jan. 12-13
“Schwarz Conducts Brahms: With Dvořák’s Cello Concerto” brings back father and son musical powerhouse in Conductor Gerard Schwarz and cellist Julian Schwarz, as well as Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra, in a concert that includes Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture” and Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor.
Jan. 19
For the POPS concert “Cirque de la Symphonie,” Bekker conducts the CSO, with circus artists choreographed to classical masterpieces and popular music, all performed live onstage with the orchestra. Works include Tchaikovsky's “Swan Lake,” Bizet's “Carmen,” Mozart's “The Marriage of Figaro,” plus Dvořák's “Carnival Overture" and Wagner's “Ride of the Valkyries.”
Jan. 26-27
Conductor William Eddins and violinist Bella Hristova lend their talents to “The Music of Bernstein and Marsalis: Weaving American Stories,” featuring Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide” and “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story” and Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra.
March 1-2
“The Planets: With Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto,” will feature Conductor Tito Muño, pianist Maxim Lando and Women of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus for a concert including Jessie Montgomery’s “Starburst,” Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor and Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.”
Musicians rehearse with the Charleston Symphony on Oct. 1, 2021, at the Gaillard Center. File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
March 22-23
Bekker leads the orchestra in “Verdi’s Requiem: Behind the Baton with Bekker,” which also features a coterie of yet-to-be-announced guest vocalists, as well as Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and College of Charleston Concert Choir to perform Giuseppe Verdi’s “Messa da requiem.”
April 6
Charleston Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Kellen Gray heads up “Harlem Renaissance,” an evening with the Charleston Symphony and members of the symphony’s Project Aurora in a multimedia program works written and inspired by great African American musicians, writers and painters of the 1920s and ‘30s.
April 19-20
“Dvořák's Seventh Symphony: With Grieg's Piano Concerto” highlights Lina González-Granados as conductor with Paul Sánchez on piano. For the final Masterworks Series finale, the orchestra will perform Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 in D minor.
Subscriptions are now on sale, and existing subscribers are encouraged to renew by April 21. Tickets for individual concerts will go on sale in August. For more information, visit charlestonsymphony.org.
