In The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) on Wednesday (6/8), Steve Siegel previews an Allentown Symphony Orchestra program featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and a new work by the ASO’s music director. “Just what does one choose … as a concert opener in a program that features such a masterpiece? If you’re Diane Wittry, Allentown Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor, you compose your own work. When the symphony, accompanied by the Allentown Symphony Chorus, presents Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Saturday and Sunday at Miller Symphony Hall, the concert opener will be the world premiere of Wittry’s ‘Ode to Joy Fanfare.’ Also on the program is the Pennsylvania premiere of Canadian composer John Estacio’s ‘Borealis’ accompanied by a film by video artist Jose Francisco Salgado, and Liszt’s ‘Les Préludes-Symphonic Poem No. 3.’ ” Wittry’s piece incorporates Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” theme, “but also sneaks in some recognizable motifs from all the movements of the Ninth…. The ‘Ode to Joy’ theme will be first introduced by student musicians participating in the Lehigh Valley’s El Sistema program…. ‘To me, the theme of the “Ode,” the brotherhood of mankind, has a child-like simplicity to it…. I thought wouldn’t it be wonderful to write a part for the wonderful El Sistema program,’ Wittry says.”
Posted April 10, 2015
