“If things had gone according to plan, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra would be on the cusp of completing its three-season cycle of Beethoven’s nine symphonies” at Morris Performing Arts Center, writes Andrew Hughes in Sunday’s (5/2) South Bend Tribune (IN). “Instead, pandemic hit in March 2020…. Now, the SBSO is preparing to resume the cycle … with Saturday’s … performance of Symphony No. 8 in F major. The Fifth follows two weeks later, while the Ninth will have to wait until the 2022-23 season.… The [Eighth] symphony comes ‘straight out of the gate with joy and energy,’ SBSO Music Director Alastair Willis says…. The concert … begins with ‘Reflections on a Memorial’ by Quinn Mason … a contemporary composer whose works the conductor believes have the potential to still be performed 200 years from now…. The program [also] features SBSO concertmaster Brendan Shea as the soloist for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 … which he wrote when he was 19…. ‘We’re, hopefully, turning a corner as a country in terms of going to live events. I thought there’s no better concerto for returning to live events,’ says Shea.” The orchestra will perform for an audience capped at 575.
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