Capital City Symphony: Hope!

Music, like 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 rapturous tour-de-force of bubbling joy and childlike fun. Leroy Anderson’s Fiddle Faddle is a lightning-fast work that was written for (and in) a time when light symphonic music was immensely popular. Unfortunately, it has become a genre that has largely disappeared into obscurity, replaced by “serious” music that is often considered more “deserving” of the concert stage. I believe this to be a loss to our society. In a time characterized by seismic geopolitical upheaval, the normalization of human rights violations and crimes against humanity, and arguably the worst economic inequality the world has ever seen, it is important to also see the beauty and hope that surrounds us. To me, Anderson’s Fiddle Faddle exemplifies the joyous moments in life, and reminds us that we need to look for, and remind ourselves of these moments – to give us hope, but also strength to resist and stand up for the world we strive for, believe in, and deserve.

This is followed by Sergei Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite, a satirical representation of a moronic king-like figure, and how, through collaboration and the power of community, the king 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 decided to create 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 conclude the program with Stick Season, written by my dear friend, J. Clay Gonzalez. The composition is inspired by the beauty to be found in nature, amongst the harshness and brutality of a winter far north. Each of the five movements in Stick Season illustrates a different wintry experience – a beautifully prismatic sunset over a frozen lake, the meditative experience of practising awareness while being in an arctic wind or icy water, or the joy and warmth that a gathering of friends around a campfire brings. While the composition is inspired by these experiences, Stick Season really is about connection. It is about getting through difficult times by connecting to the natural world and to each other. As Gonzalez beautifully said to me during a recent visit, “I want the theme of connection to go beyond what you hear in the piece, and to be embedded in how the music comes together. The act of making sound together as a community is an immensely powerful, spiritual force—something we can use to feel much more connected to each other. I hope that, by everyone resonating together through this piece, we can leave the performance feeling a little more connected with one another.”

And so, in a world where it feels like the idea 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, Assistant Conductor

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.