The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the sixth and final concert in its 2013-2014 Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series: Mahler’s Fifth Symphony on April 12th at 8 p.m. and April 13th at 3 p.m. in the Robinson Center Music Hall. The Masterworks Series is sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Foundation.

Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is joined on the program by a world premiere commissioned by the musicians of the ASO and written by ASO Composer of the Year, Christopher Theofanidis.

This will be the final ASO Masterworks concert in Robinson Center Music Hall before the renovations.  It is fitting that the concert features a work commissioned by the ASO musicians. It is a testament to the musicians and their supporters for the 40 years that the ASO has called Robinson home.

Adult tickets are $53, $47, $30, and $14; student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at http://www.ArkansasSymphony.org or by phone at (501) 666-1761. All children are free on Sunday with the Entergy Kids Ticket, downloadable at http://www.ArkansasSymphony.org/freekids

ARTISTS
Christopher Theofanidis, composer

PROGRAM
THEOFANIDIS The Wind and Petit Jean
WORLD PREMIERE

INTERMISSION

MAHLER Symphony No. 5 in C# minor
PART I
1. Trauermarsch
2. Stürmisch bewegt
PART II
3. Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell
PART III
4. Adagietto
5. Rondo-Finale

Gustav Mahler Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony could be his most famous work, and was often performed alone before his symphonies saw widespread performance as whole works. Adagietto was written as a love song for his beloved Alma. As with many of Mahler’s symphonies, the orchestra is greatly expanded for No. 5: in addition to a full complement of strings, the work calls for 4 trumpets, 6 horns, four flutes (which at one point all double on piccolo together), along with large double-reed, clarinet, and percussion contingents.

The ASO has a great collaborative relationship between the musicians, music director, Board of Directors, and administrative staff, which is illustrated by the very existence of The Wind and Petit Jean. When the Board of Directors made a personal gift (above and beyond their requirements as Board members) to the musicians of the ASO in recognition of their sacrifice during hard financial times, the musicians elected to use the money to commission a new piece of music and dedicate it to the ASO Board of Directors. Christopher Theofanidis was chosen by the musicians to compose the commission, and he worked with the orchestra on his Rainbow Body in October of 2013 during his residency as 2013-2014 ASO Composer of the Year.

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 48th season in 2013-2014 under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than thirty concerts each year for more than 42,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series and Parker Lexus River Rhapsodies Chamber Series, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 24,000 school children and over 200 schools.