California’s Oakland East Bay Symphony “opens the 2015-2016 season on Oct. 2 ‘with a new name,’ ” reports Janos Gereben in Monday’s (8/17) San Francisco Classical Voice. “That would be ‘Oakland Symphony.’ … Oakland Symphony was the city’s proud cultural asset, founded in 1933 … giving local and even world premieres by such composers as Darius Milhaud, Luciano Berio, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Hans Werner Henze…. In 1986, a labor dispute and bankruptcy forced the orchestra to close. The name was carried on by two surviving auxiliary organizations, the Oakland Symphony Chorus and Oakland Youth Symphony Orchestra,” which became Oakland East Bay Symphony in 1988. Michael Morgan was named music director in 1990. “In both identities, the orchestra has been a force for new music, and it’s illustrated by the program for the season-opener, showcasing the West Coast premiere of Mason Bates’ Devil’s Radio. Morgan is also conducting the Prokofiev Violin Concerto, with soloist Kenneth Renshaw, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, and selections from Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, with the Oakland Symphony Chorus…. New music also prevails at the season’s last two concerts. The March 18 concert includes the world premiere of Martin Rokeach’s Piccolo Concerto (Amy Likar, soloist)…. The May 20 concert features John Adams’ The Dharma at Big Sur (Tracy Silverman, electric violin).”
Posted August 19, 2015
