Andrés Franco, music director of the Signature Symphony in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will conduct “Bach & Sons, Inc.,” “a re-creation of the first concert the orchestra performed when it debuted Feb. 2, 1979, under the direction of founder Barry Epperley as the Tulsa Little Symphony,” writes James D. Watts Jr. in Sunday’s (1/20) Tulsa World. “Epperley would lead the orchestra for 37 years, through a couple of name and venue changes, before retiring in 2014. Franco [became] music director … in 2015…. The 2018-2019 season was created with input from the Signature Symphony audience…. The ‘Bach & Sons, Inc.’ … program will feature three works by Johann Sebastian Bach—the ‘Magnificat,’ … the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 … and Overture from the Orchestral Suite No. 3…. C.P.E. Bach’s Symphony in C Major, H. 659, was the first piece on that 1979 concert, and Epperley will return to conduct this work. The other Bach ‘son’ to be featured … is P.D.Q. Bach, the creation of composer Peter Schickele,” with Schickele’s oratorio The Seasonings. Says Franco, “While we are very serious about the music we play, we also want to make our concerts fun…. This idea has been a part of the orchestra from the very beginning.”
Posted January 24, 2019
In photo: Signature Symphony Music Director Andrés Franco will lead the orchestra in a re-creation of its first concert to celebrate its 40th anniversary this season.
