“Twenty months…. That’s how long it had been since ProMusica Chamber Orchestra set foot onstage at the Southern Theatre,” writes Lynn Green in Tuesday’s (10/12) Columbus Dispatch (OH). “But … with Sunday night’s season kickoff, the orchestra is back in full force, and its energy level is as high as ever…. The vaccination and testing review … went smoothly…. Program books were digital only, with QR codes displayed around the building. Artistic Director David Danzmayr chose three movements from Bach’s ‘Suite for Lower Strings’ to open the season [arranged by] Clarice Assad … with subtle, yet startling, dissonances…. As part of ProMusica’s Composer/Performer Project, … the centerpiece of the first half of the program was Xavier Foley’s double concerto ‘For Justice and Peace’ … inspired by the 400th anniversary of the onset of African slavery in the United States…. Uneasiness lurks beneath soaring harmonies and conversational snippets of traditional melodies…. Foley’s articulation is next-level elegance….. Violinist Eunice Kim inhabited the work equally well…. [In] Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto No. 2, Foley demonstrated equal technical and artistic prowess … [Beethoven’s] Symphony No. 7 was an enthusiastic romp, building and releasing tension, a playful sun revealed behind heavy clouds.”
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