The Big Reveal: Inside The Classics '08-'09

A number of you have been asking whether we're ever planning to make public our plans for the Inside the Classics series beyond the current season, and at long last, we have answers! The official press announcement concerning our 2008-09 season of concerts went out a day or two ago, and those of you who are subscribers and/or longtime patrons of the series should be getting the new brochure in your mailbox within the next few days. Still, we wanted to get the first official word on the new season up on the blog before it drops anywhere else, so here it is.

The first thing to tell you is that Sarah and I will be continuing in our respective roles as conductor and host of the series in 2008-09, and that we will also continue to write and produce the shows ourselves (along with the Minnesota Orchestra's invaluable artistic administrator, Kari Marshall,) as we have in this inaugural year. We'll also be preserving the format of the concerts, whereby we spend the first half delving into the music and the people who bring it to life, and then give the second half of the evening over to a complete performance of a single featured work.

We've spent a lot of time this first season experimenting, both musically and verbally, to try and get our points across in as many creative ways as possible, judging our success levels by what we hear from both our colleagues in the orchestra, and you in the audience. Some of this feedback came in the form of blog comments, e-mails or phone calls, but the bulk of it came simply from taking the measure of the room at the moment one of our "bits" connected - or failed to.

Essentially, this series has been, and will likely continue to be, a work forever in progress, as we attempt to nurture new ways of connecting people to music. To that end, the 2008-09 season will be all about starting you off with some music you're likely already comfortable with, and then asking you to trust us to introduce you to something completely new.

Our theme for the year is "Young Wonders," composers who became masters of their craft at a shockingly young age. One of them is probably obvious, another will be quite familiar, and the third you are likely never to have heard of - but we guarantee that you'll never forget him. So without further ado, here's the rundown on next year's concerts...

Concert 1 - November 19 & 20, 2008
Featured Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Featured Work: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Well, we really couldn't do a season on prodigies and leave him off the list, could we? Mozart was the quintessential stage kid - paraded around Europe like a circus act, playing spectacular piano and violin solos while blindfolded as a party trick, and generally living out his father's dreams of musical stardom. In his 20s, he quickly developed into one of the most beloved composers of his day. But he never really outgrew his youth, and his inability to deal with the adult world on its terms is something that we'll definitely be getting into. Musically, we'll spend the first half taking you from his earliest works through his early adulthood; then, on the second half, you'll get to hear Mozart at his most mature - the last symphony he ever wrote, full of energy and bombast, but also perfectly paced and beautifully orchestrated, as only he could do.

Concert 2 - January 28 & 29, 2009
Featured Composer: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Featured Work: Symphony No. 4, Italian

Everyone knows about Mozart's prodigiousness, and that he died in his late 30s, leaving us to wonder what might have been had he lived a few more decades. Few listeners, however, realize that Mendelssohn's lifespan was as short as Mozart's, or that his early compositions were even more impressive. Mendelssohn was penning legitimate masterpieces in his mid-teens, as a member of one of Europe's most celebrated musical families. We'll trace the lineage on the first half, and bring you, among other things, a movement of his spectacular Octet for Strings, written at age 15. Then, on the second half, you'll get a full dose of what many believe to be Mendelssohn's greatest orchestral work, jumping with energy and unmistakably tied to the youthful enthusiasm that defines so much of his music.

Concert 3 - March 18 & 19, 2009
Featured Composer: Jay Greenberg
Featured Work: Symphony No. 5

Unless you are a devoted viewer of the CBS News program, 60 Minutes, or are seriously plugged into the American new music scene, you probably have never heard of Jay Greenberg. That's okay. Until about two years ago, I'd never heard of him, either. Of course, two years ago, he was 14 years old, and had just completed his fifth fully scored, fully realized symphony. A year later, that symphony, which we're featuring as our season finale, was recorded by no less a luminary band than the London Symphony Orchestra and released by Sony Classical. Jay describes the symphony as "a counter-stereotypical work combining a Romantic melodic sweep with... methodical mathematical thinking." One prominent composition teacher at Juilliard has declared the soft-spoken kid from New Haven, Connecticut to be "a prodigy of... the likes of Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Saint-Saens." That's quite a hefty description for a teenager to bear on his shoulders, and we'll spend our first half asking him about it in person, as Jay Greenberg joins us live on stage to talk about his life and his music. Then, after intermission, we'll give you a complete reading of this remarkable piece, by this remarkable young man.

So there it is, at long last. Sarah and I could not be more excited about these shows, and we're thrilled that Jay will be able to join us for the third set of concerts! (As you may have guessed, his participation was the important confirmation we mentioned a few weeks back that we were waiting on before announcing the new slate of concerts.) It should be an awfully fun ride, and we hope that all of you who've joined us at the hall or on the blog this year will make it out for all three concerts, and bring your friends!