The Winter Celebration concert is at 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6 in the Fresno State Concert Hall. Tickets for this family-friendly event are $15 general, $10 for seniors and employees and $5 for students. Parking is free after 4 p.m. in Lot P1 or P31.
A holiday tradition returns as the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Thomas Loewenheim performs a special concert for the holiday season with traditional favorites including Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus Overture,” the famous waltz “Under Thunder and Lightning” (Unter Donner und Blitz), and the “Radetzky March.”
Special guest artist, clarinetist Guy Yehuda, will join the orchestra for Jean Françaix’s virtuosic Clarinet Concerto. Yehuda is internationally recognized and has toured extensively in Europe, North America, Israel and China.
Currently, Yehuda is the Associate Professor and Artist Teacher of Clarinet at Michigan State University College of Music, and principal clarinetist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. He is the clarinet faculty resident at the Vianden Summer Festival in Europe, Aria International Music Festival in Massachusetts and Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy in California. His visit to Fresno State is co-sponsored by the Fresno State Faculty Clarinet Quartet, the West Coast Clarinet Congress, and the applied clarinet studio at Fresno State.
Reviving a lost work can be associated with a treasure hunt, locating a hidden jewel and bringing it to the world to see. Known as the “czar of cellists”, Karl Davidov was also a composer. Although he wrote mainly for the cello, he also composed several chamber music works, songs, and orchestral work. His Suite for Orchestra, Op. 37, was composed in 1888, one year before he passed away. The five-movement suite, inspired by some of the greatest Russian composers, has not been performed for a very long time, and no orchestral parts can be found.
In order to revive this work, former graduate composition student and 2019 Fresno State College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Medalist, Mason Lamb, created orchestral parts from an original score, so the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra can present this marvelous work to the world again. The suite will be performed tonight for the first time, as far as we know, and we hope you will enjoy this revival from the late romantic period.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 