The 2024-25 concert calendar features Grammy winners, epic works and a gospel-flavored Christmas show
By Jim Flint for Ashland.news
It’s Music Director Martin Majkut’s 15th year with the Rogue Valley Symphony and he’s pulling out all the stops for a transcendent 2024-25 season.
There will be two Grammy Award winners, epic works and an encore holiday concert at Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Angus Bowmer Theatre that promises a unique and spirited twist.
“The season has some of my all-time favorite Romantic pieces,” Majkut said, “including Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, Brahms’ First Symphony and Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony. I am also very much looking forward to our Beethoven’s Fifth, which never ceases to be a formidable task.”
The Fifth was part of Majkut’s very first concert as RVS music director in October of 2010. “Our audiences have not heard ‘ta-ta-ta-DAA’ since,” he said.
Dvořák’s Cello Concerto featuring the charismatic Tommy Mesa is a particularly moving program choice for the Czech-born Majkut.
“There is a section toward the end of the third movement that reliably brings tears to my eyes,” he said. “It is a guy from my neck of the woods, reminiscing about his young years in the old country. You can see why it touches me so.”
Gospel choir
The holiday concerts Dec. 13-15 at the Angus Bowmer Theatre will feature the Florida State University Gospel Choir, combining classical orchestration with the vibrant energy of the highly acclaimed choral group.
“The enthusiasm of gospel music is positively infectious,” Majkut said. “We will all feel better about the world after this concert is over.”
There will be no Valentine’s Day concert at the Bowmer in 2025 because OSF is expanding its play schedule as it leaves the pandemic behind.
“However, we are now in a position to try to use the Bowmer during any time they are completely dark,” Majkut said. “We are looking at winter and fall for the future.”
Other opportunities loom for RVS as well.
New venues
“I anticipate our performing in Grants Pass at the Rogue Community College Bowl beginning the summer of 2025,” he said. “And we have other concerts in our pocket, ready to jump if another hall becomes available to us. The Holly (Theatre undergoing restoration in Medford) is on the horizon.”
A less often-heard piece of music, Florence Price’s violin concerto, will be performed by Grammy winner Melissa White at the Feb. 7-9 concerts.
“I have worked with Melissa before,” Majkut said, “and believe that her interpretation of Price’s music will be just as popular with our audiences as Price’s Piano Concerto with Michelle Cann was in February.”
Hidden gem
Majkut points to Christopher Theofanidis’ Bassoon Concerto as a “hidden gem” of the season, to be featured in the Jan. 10-12 concerts.
“Not only is it a fantastic piece, but having never had a bassoon soloist here before, I went for somebody who I believe is the best in the world. Grammy Award nominee Martin Kuuskmann is simply astounding.”
Majkut also applies the “astounding” adjective to seven-time Grammy winner Edgar Meyer, who will perform his Double Bass Concerto No. 1 at the Sept. 27-29 concerts.
“He is a phenomenon beyond comprehension,” Majkut said. “His unbelievable virtuosity allows for musical versatility that is perhaps without peer on the contemporary music scene. Classical, bluegrass, jazz — Edgar does it equally well.”
2024-25 highlights
Following are highlights in the lineup for 2024-25:
Aug. 23-25, season opener, “Hollywood’s Greatest Hits.” Highlights include music from “Star Wars,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “The Addams Family,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Indiana Jones” and “Mission Impossible.”
Sept. 27-29, Grammy Award-winning Edgar Meyer on double bass, the “William Tell Overture,” and four dance episodes from Copland’s “Rodeo.”
Oct. 18-20, RVS composer-in-residence David Ludwig premiers an original work, Vijay Venkatesh plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, and Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony.
Nov. 22-24, RVS concertmaster Carla Ecker performs Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” as well as the violin solo in Brahms’ First Symphony.
Dec. 13-15, “A Gospel Christmas Holiday Special” at the Bowmer Theatre with the Florida State University Gospel Choir.
Jan. 10-12, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Grammy Award nominee bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann.
Feb. 7-9, Grammy Award-winning violinist Melissa White and pieces by Saint-Saëns and Bizet.
April 25-27, Tommy Mesa plays the Dvořák Cello Concerto, plus a collaboration between RVS and Westwater Visual Media Studio to deliver a unique concert experience with Ferde Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite.”
For more concert details, dates, times and venues, and to order tickets, go to rvsymphony.org.
Reach writer Jim Flint at jimflint.ashland@yahoo.com.
