“With our ongoing focus on women composers and composers of color, it is important to bring attention to these composers from the past as well as the present …,”
- Morihiko Nakahara
Morihiko Nakahara - photo by Kevin Kyzer
The South Carolina Philharmonic presents Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony Saturday, October 9, 2021, 7:30 PM at the Koger Center for the Arts. This first concert of the 2021/2022 Masterworks Series features Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s Overture in C Major, Andrea Gabrieli and Mark Scatterday’s Aria della battaglia, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins in B minor and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56, “Scottish.” The Vivaldi spotlights SC Phil Concertmaster Mary Lee Taylor Kinosian, and SC Phil musicians Ashley Horvat, Damir Horvat and Sophie Wang. All concerts this season will be presented in person and livestreamed.
Following a season of production challenges because of COVID, Music Director Morihiko Nakahara mused on the most thrilling way for the SC Philharmonic to return to the Koger Center for the 2021/2022 Masterworks Series. “Frankly there are many ways for orchestras to celebrate ‘the return to normalcy,” said Nakahara. “One could feature a huge piece to raise the roof like Beethoven's 9th, or one could enlist a marquee guest artist. We're taking another approach that says: ‘this is our musical family, and welcome back to our musical home, both in-person and virtually.’”
Nakahara went on to explain that the first concert of the season is continuing the organization’s artistic goals, while also celebrating the talent within the community. “With our ongoing focus on women composers and composers of color, it is important to bring attention to these composers from the past as well as the present,” said Nakahara. “We also wanted to create fun ways for our musical family to get back into the groove, like highlighting several of them in a solo role. We are doing this with the Vivaldi on this program, and the Bach on the next program. We also get to highlight various sections of the orchestra in the Gabrieli piece - for example, our winds and brass sections.”
The concert will be bookended by pieces that were composed by siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. This pairing has been a longtime goal of Nakahara’s. Felix Mendelssohn remains one of Maestro’s favorite composers since his days playing the clarinet. He believes that the "Scottish" Symphony highlights the well-documented aspect of Mendelssohn's creative output as a painter, and expects listeners to hear, see and smell what the composer must have experienced when becoming inspired in Scotland. Though history doesn’t reveal much about how Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s Overture in C Major came to be, Nakahara believes listeners can sense Fanny’s joy and excitement in writing for a full orchestra, which makes it a stunning opener for this concert and for the season.
Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony will be presented on Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 7:30 PM at the Koger Center for the Arts.Tickets may be purchased at scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office at 803-251-2222.
Audiences are encouraged to visit the Koger Center’s website to learn about all safety protocols for in-person performances: kogercenterforthearts.com.