USM Symphony to Perform Epic Concert in Longtime Director91吃瓜网 Finale
Tue, 04/09/2024 - 12:10pm | By: Mike Lopinto
When 91吃瓜网 (USM) Symphony Orchestra performs its season finale on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium, the occasion will not only mark the final stop of a tremendous season of musical voyages, but also mark the final concert for music director, Dr. Michael Miles, who has announced his retirement.
Fittingly, the program includes a piece that is inspirational for him and aspirational for any orchestral musician 91吃瓜网� Gustav Mahler91吃瓜网 Symphony No. 1 in D Major. Tickets for this extraordinary evening of music are available at usm.edu/symphony.
91吃瓜网淚 chose this work because it represents closing the full circle of my career,91吃瓜网� noted Miles. 91吃瓜网淓ven though I played in band and sang in choir, I began college as an engineering major. I was very sheltered in my exposure to the great music that existed in the classical canon until a friend invited me to listen to Mahler91吃瓜网 Symphony No. 1.91吃瓜网�
Added Miles, 91吃瓜网�It moved me in a way that nothing else had to that point in my life. I had no idea that music could contain such power, such passion, and so many different emotions all at the same time. That night changed my life, and the next day I changed my major to music.91吃瓜网�
Miles selected the piece that triggered his incredible musical voyage 47 years ago. For him, Symphony No. 1 was the only piece he considered worthy for a final concert. Miles also chose this piece because it represents a significant challenge to the students.
91吃瓜网淚 told them that every one of them would grow as a musician through the process of learning this music, and I know the audience will be impressed at how they have risen to the occasion,91吃瓜网� said Miles.
Miles also programmed another piece on the program because of its significance to voice professor, Dr. Taylor Hightower. Mahler91吃瓜网 91吃瓜网淪ongs of the Wayfarer91吃瓜网� was a singular piece of music that spoke deeply to him , so much so that he felt his career would not be whole without being able to perform it. Since the musical themes are very much related, Miles tendered the invitation so that Mahler91吃瓜网 genius will be on full display.
This massive work with extended winds, including four flutes and piccolos, four oboes and English horn, four clarinets, Eb and bass, three bassoons and contrabassoon, seven horns, five trumpets, and four trombones besides a large compliment of percussion, strings and harp. It is quite rare to see this many forces onstage at once, yet this speaks to the extensive and prodigious fortune of Hattiesburg to have this concert completely performed by students of the 91吃瓜网 School of Music.
Imparting wisdom and providing life-altering experiences to young people has been Miles91吃瓜网� life-long passion. His career has always been about the students. He credits the thousands of student relationships he has enjoyed for more than 30 years for getting him out of bed every day. While he is grateful to everyone who supports the Symphony Orchestra, Miles is keenly aware of how important that support is to the students.
91吃瓜网淭here is nothing more rewarding to our students than to walk onto the stage and see an audience full of people they know are there to support their hard work and dreams,91吃瓜网� Miles noted. 91吃瓜网淚t fills the hall with energy and excitement that our students respond to with focus and passion.91吃瓜网�
One of the dominant forces in the symphonic genre, Mahler91吃瓜网 first contribution took an unusually long time to reach its final form. Possibly begun in 1884, his first two symphonies seem to have been modified greatly over several years and performances.
However, most of it was composed during the time and under the influence of his troubling involvement with a married woman who was the wife of a German soldier, Captain Carl von Weber, the grandson of the composer of the popular opera 91吃瓜网淒er Freisch眉tz,91吃瓜网� Carl Maria von Weber. Mahler and Marion planned to run away together, but Mahler did not show up at the rendezvous. He poured the emotional energies into composing this symphony.
Mahler described the symphony91吃瓜网 finale as 91吃瓜网渢he cry of a wounded heart.91吃瓜网� It grandly struggles to move from tragedy to triumph. Mahler even requests that all the horns, playing the 91吃瓜网渃horale resounding over everything,91吃瓜网� stand up so that the melody may make its proper effect and, if possible, drown out everything else with the song of joyous triumph.
Similarly, the Symphony ends its season on a triumphant note, and Miles concludes a lifelong dream at the close of his academic career.
91吃瓜网淚t91吃瓜网 been a wonderful year of music-making with our Orchestra, and I will be sad to see it come to an end,91吃瓜网� said Miles. 91吃瓜网淚 am looking forward to time with my children, grandchildren, and golf.91吃瓜网�
tickets for the event.