Capital City Symphony: Hope!

Music, as many art forms, can express a variety of aspects constituent to our shared human experience. Emotions such as joy or sadness, societal events such as conflicts, uprisings, or celebrations, and even abstractions such as geometric or algorithmic creations, can manifest themselves in or be represented through sound in infinitely creative ways.

This program shares with you music that is oriented around human connection, the strength and power of community to overcome, and how it, along with art, can bring about healing and hope.

Our program opens with a movement from my collection of vyf afrikaanse danse (Five Afrikaans Dances). The dance in question is a rieldans – a lightning-fast dance with virtuosic footwork that is commonly danced by Afrikaans-speaking people of color in the Northern Cape and Karoo regions of South Africa. Culturally, this dance form has had a profoundly positive impact on numerous rural communities – communities that are often of very modest means and consequently susceptible to the lure of crime. The pursuit and popularization of this dance has brought people together and lifted these communities in an extraordinary way! It goes to show that such cultural art forms can transcend ethnographic boundaries and have a life-changing impact on the lives of so many people.

This is followed by Sergei Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite, a satirical representation of the moronic nature of king-like figures and how, through collaboration and the power of community, they can be outsmarted. Prokofiev’s immensely descriptive, colorful music was originally written to accompany the similarly titled 1934 film. Realizing the popularity of his film score, he created this concert suite, which quickly became one of his most popular works. Ironically, the Kijé Suite was not banned by the oppressive Stalin regime, unlike many of Prokofiev’s later works. A clear parallel can be drawn between the story of Kijé and the experiences of many Russian composers of the time, who had to outsmart the authorities to avoid prosecution.

And finally, we have a new work by J. Clay Gonzalez, for which I am beyond excited. Clay’s work is unlike anything I’ve encountered before, and I love it. The philosophy behind his music is to bring musicians and audiences together in an immersive, interactive experience that cultivates and promotes community engagement in a way that few other music forms can. Clay is co-director of the Regenerate! Orchestra with the phenomenal cellist and educator Dr. Wesley Hornpetrie. I’m thrilled that this work will go beyond just “talking about” community, but in fact create a space that will bring people together. I won’t give too much away; only to say that it is not to be missed!

And so, in a world where it feels like the ideal of community and a hopeful, united future is under constant threat, I hope that this program will be a manifestation of the possibilities that can result when we, as fellow community members, come together to transcend worldly boundaries in the pursuit of healing and hope.

– Johannes Visser

Runtime: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ages: All Ages

Capital City Symphony (CCS) is a community orchestra based in Washington, D.C. We are one of the founding arts partners of the Atlas Performing Arts Center, located in Northeast DC’s Atlas District.

We were founded in 1967 as the Georgetown Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 we relocated to H Street NE and took the name Capital City Symphony in order to better reflect our new location and city-wide focus. The 2006-07 concert season marked our first season fully in residence as an Arts Partner at the new Atlas Performing Arts Center, which has been the cornerstone of the H Street NE corridor revitalization project.

Now in her 25th season leading CCS, Artistic Director and Conductor Victoria Gau has been lauded by critics for her “strong sense of style and drama” (Washington Post) and her “enthusiastic and perceptive conducting”, and brings a wide range of musical experience and expertise to her work. She recently left a nine-year tenure as Associate Conductor of National Philharmonic to assume the role of Music Director of Cantate Chamber Singers. Our previous conductors were: Louis Fantasia, Daniel Hornstein, and John Welsh.

We perform standard symphonic repertoire and explore the best of 20th and 21st-century music. Our orchestra consists of approximately 100 volunteer musicians of all ages. We provide engaging and informative introductions to each of our programs to help everyone enjoy the show, and we create a relaxed atmosphere in which classical music is accessible to all. A typical Capital City Symphony season offers six full orchestral programs, three family-friendly programs, and a chamber concert, in addition to community outreach through partners such as Central Union Mission.