Maestro Palacios opens the season with music exploring diverse musical traditions. "This program expresses a sense of belonging and citizenship, where each composer explores his inner feelings to reveal his roots," he explains. Juan Bautista Plaza's Fuga Criolla is an energetic fusion of fugue and Venezuela's national dance, the joropo. It celebrates the national heritage of both composer and conductor, an ideal start for the orchestra's new era. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the London-born son of an African father, was a great success around the turn of the twentieth century. Praised by Edward Elgar and received at the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt, his "Danse Nègre" from African Suite explores his African roots within the form of a  classical overture.
Trumpeter Owen Miyoshi is soloist in Alexander Arutiunian's Trumpet Concerto, which combines Russian romanticism with Armenian folk influences, bringing both heartfelt lyricism and virtuosic display for the soloist. Completing the program is Brahms' Symphony No. 2. Composed in a single summer at a small Austrian lake, it is the most pastoral and serene of his symphonies, reflecting the changing moods of the Bohemian countryside. Hammer Theatre Center – 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113
Juan Palacios, music director and conductor
Owen Miyoshi, trumpet
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Danse Nègre from African Suite
Juan Bautista Plaza: Fuga Criolla
Alexander Arutiunian: Trumpet Concerto
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2
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