Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina Philharmonic presents Titans & Outlaws Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 7:30 PM at the Koger Center for the Arts. This sixth and final concert of the 22|23 Masterworks Series welcomes the SCP Youth Orchestra to the stage to perform Copland’s “Billy the Kid” side-by-side with the SC Philharmonic. The program closes with an epic performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan.” Concert ticket prices range from $20-$55. Half-price student rush tickets are available in select sections 30 minutes prior to the concert. Concert tickets may be purchased at scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office at 803.251.2222. Audiences may stream the concert live or enjoy it on demand by getting virtual tickets at www.scphilharmonic.com.
Music Director Morihiko Nakahara has maintained a regular tradition of welcoming the SCP Youth Orchestra to play alongside the Philharmonic during his tenure. Under the music direction of Neil Casey, the SCP Youth Orchestra is an educational symphony comprised of some of the most gifted young musicians in the state. Along with the Youth Orchestras season-long programs at the Koger Center for the Arts, this side-by-side program provides students the opportunity to rehearse and perform with one of the state’s premiere regional orchestras – giving them firsthand experience in the professional symphonic world. It also provides SC Philharmonic audiences with the opportunity to enjoy a massive orchestra on the Koger stage – with over 150 musicians performing.
The mission of the SC Philharmonic Youth Orchestras program is to provide students with a high-quality music education that instills an emotional connection with and lifelong passion for music, fosters a diverse community of musicians, and offers outstanding symphonic performance opportunities for students to share their musical gifts with the community. Founded in 1964, the South Carolina Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (SCPYO) offers an exceptional orchestral playing experience for young musicians throughout the state of South Carolina. Each year more than 200 students participate in the four orchestras of the program. Membership in the SCPYO program is open to students throughout the state, ages 8 through high school, on an auditioned basis.
The SCP Youth Orchestra will join the SC Philharmonic for Copland’s “Billy the Kid”, the opener of “Titans & Outlaws.” In 1938 Lincoln Kirstein, director of the American Ballet Caravan, became fascinated by a biography of the outlaw known as Billy the Kid, and approached Aaron Copland with the idea for a ballet. Copland, who admitted that he frankly disliked cowboy songs, agreed to try when he learned that Billy the Kid was originally from New York City. Incongruously, Copland spent the summer in Paris with a package of Western folk songs, working on the Western ballet, completing it in September at the MacDowell colony in New Hampshire. It was premiered in Chicago in October of that year but accompanied by two pianos only. The Ballet with full orchestra finally debuted to great acclaim in New York in May 1939. The orchestras will perform the suite that Copland created in the summer of 1939, transporting audiences to the outlaw country of the Wild West.
The finale of “Titans & Outlaws” will be Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan.” In the late 1880s Gustav Mahler was building a reputation as a symphonic and operatic conductor. As he moved from one conducting post to another, usually as the assistant conductor in opera houses, he had only limited time for composing. It took him from 1883 to 1888 to finish the First Symphony for its premiere and another 11 years to have it ready for publication. This epic piece will provide a thrilling finale to the SC Philharmonic’s 22|23 Masterworks Series.
The SC Philharmonic’s Titans & Outlaws will be presented on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 7:30 PM at the Koger Center for the Arts. Tickets may be purchased at scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office at 803-251-2222.
The South Carolina Philharmonic is committed to performing live symphonic music and providing dynamic educational opportunities in the Midlands. We carry forward a legacy of passion for the music and embrace our responsibility to be a vibrant part of the cultural fabric of our diverse community.
For more information about the South Carolina Philharmonic, please visit SCPhilharmonic.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram.
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