The Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra series will present an impressive lineup of world-renowned conductors and early-career musicians at the Charleston Gaillard Center in the coming week for what is bound to be a highlight of the summer once again.
John Kennedy, Spoleto’s resident conductor and director of orchestral activities, kicks off the symphonic series June 5 with Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass’s latest Symphony No. 14 , followed by the Spoleto debut on June 7 of Chicago Sinfonietta music director Mei-Ann Chen. The third concert on June 9 celebrates the long-awaited homecoming of two Charleston natives, conductor Jonathon Heyward and pianist Micah McLaurin.
“Be prepared for a lot of joy and energy in the music,” Kennedy said. “We’re so proud of our orchestra. It always is this amazing creature that comes alive for only one month a year.”
Harmonies, polyrhythms, more fill June 5 works
The June 5 program opens with Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”, an acclaimed piece once hated a century ago, but now beloved for its dramatic harmonies and unconventional polyrhythms. Kennedy follows “The Rite of Spring” with the first United States performance of Philip Glass’s thrilling Symphony No. 14. He has conducted numerous Glass symphonies and operas throughout his career — including the premiere of “Kepler” at Spoleto 2012.
“Anytime such a legendary and wonderful composer as Philip Glass writes a new symphony, I like to pay attention to it,” said Kennedy.
He added it’s especially important to have Glass on the program as a living composer.
“Music is a living art form,” Kennedy said, “and for a living composer to get up to Symphony No. 14 is pretty prolific.”
Chen’s Spoleto debut
Maestra Mei-Ann Chen makes her Spoleto debut on June 7 with a program showcasing the rich and diverse musical heritage of America.
“I have followed and admired the Spoleto Festival USA from afar for decades, so it will be a dream come true to experience the renowned Festival first hand,” she said.
Chen will open the concert with Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony, a work inspired by the composer’s visit to the United States in the 1890s.
Dvořák’s work, which is heavily inspired by Black and indigenous American music, pairs nicely with the rest of the program featuring “Ethiopia’s Shadow in America” by Florence Price and “Delights and Dances” by living composer Michael Abels.
“I have championed their music for more than a decade now,” Chen said. “Both composers have created works connected to their musical roots stemming from life experiences. Michael has written music inspired by folk, classical, and bluegrass genres, while Florence Price found her true voice incorporating spiritual, gospel, and African musical elements.”
With three generations of composers on the program, Chen said, “I hope audiences will leave with an appreciation and better understanding of American musical traditions.”
Double homecoming for former scouts
The symphonic series concludes on June 9 with Jonathon Heyward conducting pianist Micah McLaurin and the Festival Orchestra in Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.”
While it is Heyward and McLaurin’s first time performing together, it’s not the first time they’ve crossed paths. These Charlestonians met as Boy Scouts.
“Troop 79, right off of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard,” Heyward said. “I don’t think we both would have ever imagined, at that time, we would have been working together at this capacity at Spoleto Festival.”
McLaurin is happy to be home again.
“It’s funny how two young kids from Charleston are headlining the show,” he said.
McLaurin will take the stage for Grieg’s one and only completed concerto, among the most popular works in the piano concerto repertoire.
“There’s so many good melodies and a lot of drama happening,” he said. “You get to go all over the keyboard, so it’s very showy and sophisticated but not difficult to listen to. It’s a winning combination.”
Also on the June 9 docket is Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” a programmatic work featuring rainbows of harmonic colors and an innovative instrumentation that creates fantastical, psychedelic scenes.
“The story goes that Berlioz was writing this under the influence of opium,” Heyward said, “and you can almost hear it in the way it’s so free in sound and narrative.”
Following the story of an artist’s unrequited love and subsequent hallucinatory trip, “Symphonie Fantastique” paints the story in a fashion, Heyward said, “ahead of his time.”
“People must have been going crazy over the sounds they were hearing,” he added.
No other composer was experimenting with four harps and four bassoons and two tubas like Berlioz.
“‘Symphonie Fantastique’ is better than any Netflix series,” Heyward said. “There’s a visceral (quality) to it—a rhythmic energy, and so much drama that you can feel. I promise you, if you haven’t experienced it, try it, because this sort of storytelling is better than any other entertainment I think anyone can get to.”
A strong statement, considering Heyward’s skyrocketing career. As the new music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the first person of color to hold the position, he continues to lead with enthusiasm and excellence. This April, Heyward made his New York Philharmonic debut with less than two months’ notice, performing an entire set of music he’d never conducted before.
“It was quite a daredevil move, but I’m a daredevil,” he said.
Starting next year, Heyward will also succeed Louis Langrée as music director of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra for a three-year run.
His mantra, “focus on the music,” has stuck with him since he practically grew up at the Sweetwater Cafe on Market Street, waiting tables for the artists in town during Spoleto. After telling them about his own classical musical aspirations, some musicians even gave him tickets to Dock Street Theater concerts.
“I saw the richness of international culture. That inspiration behind what sort of talent was coming in and out of Charleston was always wide-eyed for me,” he said. “It’s a full circle moment in a lot of ways, and I’m quite excited.”
IF YOU PLAN TO GO: “The Rite of Spring” is 7:30 p.m., June 5, Charleston Gaillard Center. Tickets are $33 to $88. “New World Symphony” is 7:30 p.m., June 7, Charleston Gaillard Center. Tickets are $33 to $88. “Symphonie Fantastique” is 7:30 p.m., June 9, Charleston Gaillard Center. Tickets are $33 to $88.
Piper Starnes is an arts journalism graduate student at Syracuse University.
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