Click to make donation Echo Chamber Orchestra
The Grand Divorce
February 14, 7:30 PM
First Presbyterian Church
72 Kensington Road
San Anselmo, CA 94960
Echo Chamber Orchestra takes a gentle poke at Valentine's Day with "The Grand Divorce.” Starting with the "Marriage of Figaro" overture, the orchestra will "split up" and perform music featuring the brass, woodwind, percussion and string sections. The ensemble will regroup to play the premiere of Reconciliation (Rorqual) by Marin composer Kevin Gordon. The program includes Daniel Canosa's Delphine Waltz (2022) for marimba, vibraphone and piano.
Tickets are $25 available at the door and online at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/echochamberorchestra/1864934
An artists reception will follow. For information call (707) 478-2023.
KEVIN GORDON
Kevin Gordon is a composer, double and electric bassist, and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Able to compose and perform in a large variety of styles, his works range from pieces for full orchestra, to jazz combos, to rock/pop, and he is adept at composing for both live players and using music software. Gordon’s concert works have been performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and the ECHO Chamber Orchestra. He was awarded the Jacob Bruckman Memorial Prize for excellence in composition for his piece "Saint Magnus Dance," which was performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, on May 23, 2008 at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. His music for film has won two NYU First Run film festival best original score awards ("Opening Night of the Living Dead" [2010], a musical comedy film by Jonathan McDevitt, and "There’ll Be Peace When You Are Gone" [2009], a film by John De Menil).
ABOUT RECONCILIATION (RORQUAL)
I struggled for a long time to name this piece – which is part of why it has two names, Reconciliation and Rorqual. Rorquals are a family of enormous baleen whales that include blue whales and humpbacks. The name Reconciliation is based on the design of this concert, where the orchestra spends most of the time fragmented, only to come back together at the end. Indeed, Reconciliation (Rorqual) features various sections of the orchestra, sometimes alone, sometimes arguing with each other, and other times begging for understanding. Through a series of dance-like sections, the orchestra gradually unites for a triumphant finale.
The opening chords and colors were inspired by a hike in the swirling fog of the Marin Headlands, but the melodies were too direct and the places visited in the music too varied to name the piece after one location. The ocean-based, natural origin of the music eventually led me to imagine the piece as a loose representation of the yearly, ocean-spanning migration of a great whale, with the grand finale an homage to the vastness and power of the blue and humpback whales. – Kevin Gordon
Echo Chamber Orchestra celebrates its tenth season in San Anselmo as a professional level, musician-led chamber orchestra. Performing 3-4 concerts annually, Echo imbues the European tradition of a fine orchestra in every town with the Bay Area spirit of innovation, self-determination and enthusiasm. For information visit https://www.echorchestra.com/
Cost: $25