Big things are in store this year at Miller Symphony Hall, home to the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the coming months, a series of multifaceted events will showcase the growing scope of this arts entity's ambitions.
This month, the orchestra's Pops series sees a duo performing songs and dance numbers from the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, along with jazz standards of the era, with the orchestral accompaniment. The Pops series has presented a broad appeal, offering the music of James Bond, Disney and, soon, David Bowie.
In February, renowned pianist Joyce Yang takes the stage, and concertmaster Eliezer Gutman will perform Scheherazade, a piece themed on the stories of One Thousand and One Nights. This emphasis on music as storytelling is introduced as Zhou Tian opens with The Palace of Nine Perfections, inspired by a famous painting at the Met. Interpreting art into music is the project of a video contest that ASO is launching this year for filmmakers. “We'll have categories for kids, high school, college and adult,” says the orchestra's artistic director, Diane Wittry. “Everyone's making films with their iPhones anyway. I want people to hear it live, meet Zhou Tian, talk to him, find out what inspired him, find something compelling and tell a story.”
A very special production in March further explores the collaboration of visual and musical arts as Pictures at an Exhibition pairs music with animation in its East Coast debut. Ten paintings by a late friend inspired composer Mussorgsky's ten musical vignettes, enhanced into animated imagery by students of USC's School of Cinematic Arts. In collaboration with the Allentown Art Museum, the ASO will open this show with submissions to a contest to create music inspired by art at the local museum.
Miller Symphony Hall | 23 N. 6th St., Allentown | 610.432.6715 | millersymphonyhall.org
