The Billings Symphony’s Classic Series opens on Saturday, September 27 with Diamond Celebrations, featuring GRAMMY-Award winner Gil Shaham performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
Celebrating 75 years of classical music in Billings, the Billings Symphony is thrilled to kick off our best season yet with violin rockstar Gil Shaham at the Alberta Bair Theater Saturday, September 27 at 7:30PM. Known for his flawless technique and generosity of spirit, Shaham joins the orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. The orchestra concludes with the drama, color, and energy of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919) and Debussy’s Fêtes.
Gil Shaham is “…among the most inspired violinists of his generation.” (The Guardian) The GRAMMY Award-winner, also named Musical America’s “Instrumentalist of the Year,” is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors. This will be his second time in Billings on the Alberta Bair Theater stage.
He will be performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto—a piece that was originally rejected by its first dedicatee who said, “some of the passages were not suited to the character of the instrument, and that… they would not sound as well as the composer had imagined.” It took the eventual dedicatee, Adolf Brodsky, almost two years to study the work before it was finally premiered.
Once it was finally performed, it was met with resounding negativity, one critic wrote that “the violin was not played but beaten black and blue” and that it “brought us face to face with the revolting thought that music can exist which stinks to the ear.”
Now, the concerto is considered a cornerstone of violin repertoire and is one of the most beloved concertos of all time. Mainly due to the emotional richness, technical brilliance, and lyrical beauty.
This Concerto is a well-polished piece in Shaham’s collection; he even goes so far as to say, “this piece qualifies as being iconic.”
The evening will round out with the spectacle brilliance of Claude Debussy’s Fêtes from Nocturnes, which is intended to give the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light at a festival. As well as Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919), a dazzling ballet based on Russian folklore.
Diamond Celebrations is scheduled for Saturday, September 27, at the Alberta Bair Theater. The performance starts at 7:30PM, doors open at 6:30PM, and Concert Cues begin at 6:40PM. To purchase tickets, call 406-256-6052 or visit www.billingssymphony.org.
