Oregon’s Rogue Valley Symphony will premiere How Can You Own the Sky? by area composer Ethan Gans-Morse during the final concerts of its 2017-18 season on April 21 and 22 in Medford and Grants Pass. Music Director Martin Majkut will lead the program, which also will include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The orchestra has been marking its 50th anniversary this season with commissioned world premieres on each of its programs. Gans-Morse describes How Can You Own the Sky? as “a journey from the legend of creation, through the trials of the first peoples of Southern Oregon, into the devastation of the Rogue River Wars, and finally toward a more hopeful future of peaceful reconciliation, healing past wrongs, and a return to Native American teachings of greater harmony with our world and all its inhabitants.” Performing with the orchestra in the piece will be the Native American performance group Dancing Spirit, led by Brent Florendo, with singing, drumming, and poetry reading by Tiziana DellaRovere.
Posted April 18, 2018
