This event was scheduled May 6, 2023.
The San Luis Obispo Symphony is offering up two opportunities to experience “Tchaikovsky & Testimony,” its final concert of the 2022-23 season—both performances scheduled on Saturday, May 6.
A free “No Ties Allowed” open dress rehearsal suitable for all ages will take place at the PAC SLO at 11 a.m. on May 6. It is sponsored by Paul Severtson, Ann Shaw and Charles Baccadoro, Nancy Weber and Roger Vogler, and Dianne and Michael Draze.
Tickets for the evening performance, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the PAC SLO, are available through the PAC SLO box office or by calling (805) 756-4849. It is sponsored by Martha Michalojko Kettelkamp and Richard Andrews.
Both performances open with “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber” by Paul Hindemith, described as a tour de force that tests the strengths of a modern orchestra.
In partnership with the Diversity Coalition of San Luis Obispo, the symphony also will present the West Coast premiere of “Testimony of Tone, Tune and Time” by William Banfield, who will attend the performances. The piece was commissioned by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in 2021 and premiered in July 2022. It is scored for two narrators, solo saxophone, piano, harp, percussion, and strings. The narration is based on the speeches of African American orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
Guest narrators are Keenon Hooks, a resident artist with PCPA in Santa Maria, and Amber Machamer, a member of the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (Northern Chumash) tribe. Machamer’s sister Leah Mata Fragua, also a member of the tribe, has created a traditional tribal regalia with contemporary accents for Machamer’s performance. Musical soloists include saxophonist Anthony Yi.
The performances will close with Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in F Minor.” Known as the Fate symphony, it is said to be among Tchaikovsky’s finest compositions. Ticket holders are invited to attend a pre-concert Symphonic Foray talk, which begins at 6:30 p.m. and is sponsored in loving memory of Michael Fitzgerald.