The stars are aligning for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s next concert on Sunday, March 12th, titled “Epic Sounds.” Grammy Award-winning composer Kenneth Fuchs will be in attendance for the world premiere of his new piece, Star Gazing, and celebrated Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez will be featured in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The concert concludes with the monumental Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, bringing nearly 100 musicians to the stage for the piece made famous in the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Led by Music Director and Conductor Lucas Richman, the program takes place at the Collins Center for the Arts at 3 p.m.
Leading up to the March 12th concert, composer Kenneth Fuchs will be participating in a community residency to introduce audiences to his music; these activities are made possible by the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer Award, which Fuchs received in 2021. On Thursday, March 9th, Fuchs will visit with music students at the University of Maine, Orono, before offering a lecture at 3 p.m., “When Paintings Become Music: The Composer’s Inspiration” with Douglas Dreishpoon, Director of the Helen Frankenthaler Catalogue Raisonné at the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. At the Bangor Arts Exchange on Friday, March 10th, a free concert and Q&A will take place at Noon, with a string quartet from the BSO performing Fuchs’s String Quartet No. 3: Whispers of Heavenly Death. Full details of the Fuchs residency can be found at bangorsymphony.org/kenneth-
The performance of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini takes place as orchestras worldwide celebrate the 150th anniversary of the celebrated composer’s birth. Pianist Gabriela Martinez–born and raised in Venezuela, and trained at Juilliard–made her orchestral debut at age 6, and since then has performed with over 100 orchestras. Her playing has been described as “magical… a remarkable pianist, with a cool determination, a tone full of glowing color and a seemingly effortless technique” (LA Times) and “…versatile, daring and insightful” (New York Times).
Tickets and information can be found at bangorsymphony.org or by calling the box office at (207) 581-1755.