Symphony presents 'Playing with Fire'

Enjoy a fiery program full of music from Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Harry Potter and even a world premiere from an up-and-coming composer at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Clarion.

“There’s so much well-known classical music inspired by fire and we thought it would be an interesting concert to bring some of those together and perform them all in the same evening,” conductor Brian Casey said. “I like this program because there’s a lot of intense music and a lot of fiery music. There’s also some very calm moments where things are just kind of smoldering or maybe the fire has gone out, so we are going to capture many moods and play some music that’s pretty intense.”

The crowning piece of the program comes from an amateur composer and winner of the 2022 Composition Contest put on by the organization.

“Every year for the last 10 years, we’ve had a composition contest where one of our members, Philip Walker, sends out a call to amateur composers all over the world for them to submit some original compositions they’ve done, and we have a contest where we pick a winner,” Orchestra President Paula Matzke said. “The composers win a cash prize and then we also perform their piece live, and usually it’s a world premiere of these pieces, this year we had 24 states represented and 13 countries.”

This year’s winner, Gabriele Cardinali from Rome, Italy, won with his composition of “Cinderella” based off of the 1922 film, “Aschenputtel” (Cinderella), directed by Charlotte Reiniger.

“Gabriele’s music is an accompaniment to the movie, so when we play the song at the concert, the movie will be playing on the screen overhead. It’s so technical and complicated and beautiful,” Matzke said. “It’s just a really amazing thing that he’s done and we are just really happy to be a part of it, it’s such a unique and interesting opportunity for us and him, I think that’s what people will be really impressed by.”

To do the technically complicated composition justice, Casey will have a click track in his ear provided by Cardinali to keep up with the changing of tempos.

“I think this is the biggest new horizon for me and the orchestra,” Casey said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to perform for an unpublished composer and perhaps this is the beginning of something great for this composer, so we are honored to do the world premiere of this work and it’s so interesting to accompany a film and to have the choir on board with us too, it’s an unusual experience, I can’t wait for the audience to experience it.”

The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. at The Clarion, 500 College Drive in Lake Jackson. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and veterans, and $16 for students, and are available for purchase at bcfas.org, by phone at 979-265-7661 or in person at the center during regular business hours.