The SunBreak » stewart kershaw

Auburn Symphony Orchestra gets personal with Music Especially For You

Philippa Kiraly — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 18:00:19 +0000

The title says it all. For the second year running, the Auburn Symphony Orchestra opened its season with “Music Especially For You,” a special concert of short, favorite works, guaranteed to please a diverse audience and draw people in who wouldn’t normally make the trip to hear classical music. These aren’t pop concerts—no, the music … Continue reading →

Auburn Symphony Benefit Treats Crowd to a Galop and Cancan

Philippa Kiraly — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:59:05 +0000

Kershaw chose works which highlighted members of the orchestra, like Vaughan Williams’ arrangement of Greensleeves with principal flutist Karla Flygare, and Saint-Saens’ The Swan from Carnival of the Animals, with principal cellist Brian Wharton.

Auburn Symphony Finds Greats Off the Beaten Track

Philippa Kiraly — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:42:55 +0000

It isn’t one of his angry works. I didn’t hear any underlying angst in it. The violin plays almost without a break through the entire half hour of the concerto, serenely above lower winds and strings in the first movement, urgent but jaunty rather than ominous in the second. The unusual passacaglia which is the third movement has more ominous portent in the orchestra while the violin floats above, and at the end is a long cadenza for the soloist which feels like more of an emotional statement than a bravura display of fireworks.

Auburn Symphony Gets Romantic with Chausson

Philippa Kiraly — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:15:01 +0000

Beck and Kershaw between them gave us a thumbnail sketch of 19th-century composer Ernest Chausson, with slides, and it was clear that the composer holds a place of great affection in Kershaw’s pantheon. Chausson composed only three big works, which aren’t that often played, and Kershaw has programmed them all for Auburn, the Symphony in B Flat being last Saturday’s contribution.