The South Bend Symphony Orchestra presents a stunning performance in its upcoming Appalachian Spring + Silk Road concert, on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Under the baton of Music Director Alastair Willis, this captivating program features celebrated shakuhachi master and Silkroad Ensemble member, Kojiro Umezaki.
The concert promises a rich cultural dialogue, showcasing works from the traditional folk sounds of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring to the evocative compositions by contemporary Asian composers Kojiro Umezaki, Angel Lam, and Takuma Itoh.
“I think this is a very special and original program by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. It features one of Aaron Copland’s true gifts to global music, Appalachian Spring, through its conveyance of a kind of Americanism within a European art form and influence on decades of composers worldwide since,” says guest soloist, Kojiro Umezaki. “Similarly, the “Silkroad” part of the program by three United States based composers has global scope rooted in musical languages that are both orchestral and otherwise. I can’t wait to experience the full program and reflect on Copland’s legacy in this ever-connected musical world.”
The concert opens with Kojiro Umezaki’s Cycles: What Falls Must Rise. This orchestral adaptation features the shakuhachi in a meditative exploration of cycles, ascents, and descents. Following this is Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain, a poignant, personal work by Hong Kong-born composer Angel Lam. Written for shakuhachi, Faded Aura by Takuma Itoh highlights the subtle beauty and breathy expressiveness of the traditional Japanese instrument.
The concert closes with Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring, a quintessentially American piece that paints a vivid picture of pioneer life and the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts. Originally conceived as a ballet, this orchestral suite embodies the hopeful, optimistic spirit of the American frontier.
The South Bend Symphony Orchestra thanks Jack M. Champaigne for supporting the June H. Edwards Mosaic Series in memory of his friend, June, and Jordan Lexus of Mishawaka for being a proud Artistic Partner of the 2024-25 Season.
TICKETS – Student/Children tickets are only $13 and adult tickets are $39.
ONLINE – www.dpactickets.nd.edu
PHONE – DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Box Office (574) 631-2800.
(Noon – 6 pm, Monday – Friday)
IN-PERSON – Visit our friends at the DeBartolo (100 Performing Arts Center Notre Dame, IN 46556) during the times listed above or two hours before any performance.
To VIEW the 2024-25 Season schedule, visit www.southbendsymphony.org
Dates, programs, and venues are subject to change.
###
About the South Bend Symphony Orchestra
The South Bend Symphony inspires, entertains, and connects the community with the transformative power of orchestral music. Producing more than 20 mainstage programs each year and nearly 70 smaller ensemble concerts, the Symphony serves more than 29,000 attendees annually. As the region’s only professional orchestra, the Symphony is committed to fostering a robust, connected arts community in service to the greater Michiana region.
In addition to being recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and other state and local arts funding organizations, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra is the recipient of the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County’s Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence, which recognizes the best-run nonprofit organization in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
Learn more about the South Bend Symphony Orchestra at www.southbendsymphony.org.
###
About Kojiro Umezaki
Noted by The New York Times as a “virtuosic, deeply expressive shakuhachi player and composer” and the LA Times as one of the “better kept secrets of Southern California music,” Kojiro Umezaki (梅崎康二郎) has performed regularly with the Silkroad Ensemble since 2001. He appears on the Grammy Award winning album Sing Me Home, A Playlist Without Borders, Off the Map, and the Grammy-nominated 2015 documentary film, The Music of Strangers, directed by Morgan Neville. In a Circle Records released (Cycles), an album of original work, in 2014, and 流芳 Flow, a duo album with Wu Man, in 2021. A new collaborative album with Hub New Music—a distance, intertwined—will be released by In a Circle Records on Friday June 7, 2024. Other notable recordings as performer, composer, and/or producer include Brooklyn Rider’s Dominant Curve, Nicole Mitchell’s Mandorla Awakening II, Kei Akagi’s Aqua Puzzle, and Huun Huur Tu’s Ancestors Call. Born to a Japanese father and Danish mother, Umezaki grew up in Tokyo, and continues to explore global and hybrid practices in music.
them to be seen by the community at large.