MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Contact:
Caroline Nickel
(209) 523-4156
cnickel@modestosymphony.org

For Immediate Release: February 9, 2024

(From left to right: conductor Nicholas Hersh, Modesto Symphony Orchestra)

Modesto Symphony Orchestra performs Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Youth Orchestra performs Spring Concert in February

February 9 & 10, 2024 - Modesto Symphony Orchestra Performs Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, and Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps (Of a Spring Morning)

February 10, 2024 - Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra to perform Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky in Spring Concert

MODESTO, CA – The Modesto Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will perform Gershwin’s An American in Paris on February 9 & 10, 2024 led by Music Director Nicholas Hersh. The weekend’s program includes MSO’s premiere of William L. Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, as well as Lili Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps (Of a Spring Morning) which will feature a video presentation created in collaboration with Visit Modesto. The program will end with Gershwin’s An American in Paris.

“Our February Classics program explores the shifting sonic landscape of the early 20th Century, when musical innovation was constant, and the now-familiar “swing” and “jazz” were new!” says Music Director Nicholas Hersh. “Anchoring our concert is Gershwin’s famous orchestral travelogue, An American in Paris, which captures all the hustle and bustle of the Champs-Élysées and the composer’s own bittersweet homesickness for New York. Before that, we’ll hear the rarely performed Negro Folk Symphony by William Dawson, which weaves traditional Black American spirituals into a symphonic tour-de-force. And connecting the two: the wordless tone poem Of a Spring Morning by the French prodigy Lili Boulanger, featuring a new multimedia collaboration with Visit Modesto just in time for almond blossom season!”

The video presentation made in collaboration with Visit Modesto will feature photos and footage of almond blossoms, capturing the beauty of springtime in Stanislaus County. It will be projected on screen during the MSO’s performance of Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps (Of a Spring Morning), similar to MSO’s live-to-film concert movie performances.

This weekend also includes the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra (MSYO) in their Spring Concert on February 10, 2024. The MSYO comprises two orchestras with students from grades 5 through 12 and is led by a deeply engaged leadership team. For this concert, the MSYO Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by former MSYO Music Director and the MSO’s current Principal Pops Conductor, Ryan Murray. This Spring Concert will feature works by Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and more. Learn more about the MSYO at ModestoSymphony.org/about-msyo.

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Gershwin’s an american in paris

Gershwin’s An American in Paris
February 9 & 10, 2024 at 7:30pm
Nicholas Hersh, conductor

PROGRAM
William L. Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
Lili Boulanger: D’un Matin de Printemps (Of a Spring Morning)
George Gershwin: An American in Paris

Gallo Center for the Arts, Mary Stuart Rogers Theater
1000 I Street, Modesto

TICKETS:
Pricing: $20 / 36 / 52 / 72 / 94
$12 student tickets available at the Gallo Center Ticket Office. Students can purchase two $12 tickets with their student ID.