Danzas del ballet “Estancia” is a bold, rhythmic orchestral work based on the ballet “Estancia” and is the first of two pieces composed by the great Alberto Ginastera that the Michigan Philharmonic will be performing this concert season. To help familiarize you with this Alberto Ginastera, before our season opens, here are eight things you may not have known about him:

1. During his later years, Ginastera preferred to pronounce his name with a soft ‘G’ sound rather than the Spanish ‘J’ sound that he had preferred earlier in life. 
2. The fourth movement of Ginastera’s first piano concerto was adapted by English rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer. They released the song titled “Toccata” on their album Brain Salad Surgery. Ginastera was a big fan of the adaptation. 
3. The incorporation of Argentinian folk themes was important and often straightforward in Ginastera’s early compositions, but became more and more abstract as his career progressed.
4. Ginastera’s music also saw him experiment with serial technique (an innovation by Schoenberg) later in his career. 
5. The first planned performance of Ginastera’s opera Bomarzo (1967) was cancelled by the Argentinian government because of the opera’s “alleged immoral nature”. The opera was banned by Argentina until 1972. 
6. Deeming several works as immature—regardless of how well received they had been—Ginastera had them withdrawn from publication. This included his first and second symphonies. 
7. As a young professor, Ginastera traveled to the U.S. on a Guggenheim fellowship. It was then that he studied with famous American composer Aaron Copland. 
8. Estancia, the ballet source material for Danzas del ballet “Estancia” was originally commissioned by New York’s Ballet Caravan who unfortunately disbanded before the premiere of the ballet. Ginastera pulled from and converted the work into this orchestral piece as to save the music from being lost to time. 

The “Estancia” ballet itself was eventually premiered in 1952, and 67 years later we are happy to bring Danzas del ballet “Estancia” to you. Be sure to see the Michigan Philharmonic perform Ginastera’s Danzas del ballet “Estancia” during our season opener “A Bit of Beethoven and Blue Jeans” Saturday, September 30^th at the Cherry Hill Village Theater in Canton. Pre-concert talk with our music director and conductor, Nan Washburn and the great American composer, Mary Watkins at 6:45 pm. Don't miss it!

September 30th, 7:30 pm

Cherry Hill Village Theater

www.michiganphil.org

Tickets: http://sa1.seatadvisor.com/sabo/servlets/EventSearch?presenter=VTCH&event=Blue&testingCookie=true

72nd Michigan Philharmonic Season 2017 - 2018

2016: Women take Strides!

While the Michigan Philharmonic embraced women composers in their 2016/2017 concert and lecture series, the Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed deemed 2016 to be classical music’s “year of the woman.”  Du Yun became the seventh woman to win a music Pulitzer Prize for her operatic composition Angel’s Bone this year and history was made as all three music Pulitzer Prize finalists were women. Congratulations to all women working towards breaking the universal glass ceiling!

This season the Michigan Philharmonic continue its support for Women Composers as they will be preforming works by Mary Watkins, Alice Gomez, Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Gloria Estefan this upcoming season!

2017/2018 Season:

Last season, the Michigan Philharmonic focused on the promoting Women composers through lectures series and their concert series in the 2016/2017 season. This year, the Michigan Philharmonic is excited to broaden their focus as they plan to host speakers and composers that embody diversity. Look out for our upcoming lectures featuring speakers who’ll discuss Art Advocacy as the Michigan Philharmonic embraces art education, local artists, and diverse cultures and audiences.

Community/ Local Artists

The Michigan Philharmonic has a long-standing tradition of embracing the Plymouth-Canton-Livonia community as well as featuring composers form around the world at their concerts throughout each season. As they maintain their tradition embracing world class talent and local artists, this year the two of the three guest composers, Zhou Tian and Ricardo Lorenz, will be from the Lansing area. Look out for these groups and local composer/musicians in these upcoming concerts:

·       Hail to the Veterans (November 10^th, 2017) featuring:

–       The Detroit Children’s Choir

–       Main Street Opera Theatre

–       Plymouth Counselors Youth Chorale

–       MPYO Sinfonia in the concert

·       Miniature Masterpieces (January 2017) featuring:

–       Dennis Carter, Michigan Philharmonic’s own flutist and prominent musician in the metro-Detroit area

·       Tchaikovsky Spectacular (Sunday March 18th, 2018) featuring:

–       Zhou Tian and this composition,  A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

·       Danzones y Tangos: A Cabaret Café (April 14^th, 2018)

–       Ricardo Lorenzo and his composition, Habanera Science

Phil-Palooza

Saturday April 1^st, the Michigan Philharmonic will conclude its 71^st season in celebration with the concert, Phil-Palooza. Community enrichment has been an unfailing goal of Michigan Philharmonic since the symphony began. Phil-Palooza will honor the importance of community engagement as well as the platform music gives to foster collaboration and unite people from all age groups, and backgrounds. To demonstrate the inclusivity of music, Phil-Palooza will feature music both kids and adults will enjoy, including Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev, narrated by Randy Bhirdo and a Star Wars Medley, compositions by John Williams. The Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra will also appear in a side-by-side performance of the symphony Finlandia, Op, 26 composed by Jean Sibelius.

To wrap up the concert, Phil-Palooza will debut the world premiere of 112 Degrees, written by Alice Gomez whose music embodies solidarity, as she embraces her heritage and the utilization of multicultural compositional techniques. And to end this successful concert series, the Plymouth Community Band, and the Michigan Philharmonic will perform together for the first time. This is a concert you, your family and friends won’t want to miss. 

A Touch of the Irish

This season, the Michigan Philharmonic has embraced and highlighted numerous compositions written by women throughout their concert series. This upcoming concert, A Touch of the Irish, will feature the Gaelic Symphony in celebration of 150 years of Amy Beach, one of America’s most influential female composers.

Did you know?

·         Amy Beach is the first American woman to succeed as a composer of large-scale works.

·         She was 7 years old when she performed her first private recital.

·         She made her debut as a concert pianist at the age of 16.

·         She founded and was the first president of the Society of American Women Composers.

·         She was the first female American composer to compose a symphony performed by  an orchestra, Gaelic Symphony.

·         She is the first American woman to perform as a soloist on her own work. 

Philharmonic Phright Night

Our Annual Halloween Concert Fun

The second concert of the 2016 - 2017 season is on Saturday, October 22nd at 7:30 pm in the PARC Gym, Plymouth. This concert is guaranteed to be fun and will set the tone for your Halloween festivities.

Wear your favorite costumes, bring your children, enjoy free pop-corn and join in the fun!

Our Music Director and Conductor, Nan Washburn will once again surprise and haunt us with "scary classics" and movie sound tracks. From Bach, Berlioz, Gould to Williams, Danny Elfman and Ray Parker Jr. Maestra Nan Washburn has created a concert that features music that represents some of the best tunes used in scary and not-so scary movies. As Maestra Washburn has said before: "orchestral music for movies give composers the freedom to interpret the images and story the movie will talk about"; indeed music speaks first. A family treat for everyone.    

Don't miss this one. For tickets call us 734.451.2112 or visit www.michiganphil.org

2016 - 2017 Season "Celebrating Women Composers"

Creating a new season requires a process of creativity. The combination of theme, music, compositions, entertainment, and education are taken into consideration to shape the season. Under the leadership of Music Director and Conductor Nan Washburn, the Michigan Philharmonic has included many performances and compositions by women composers. To this date, Nan Washburn has included many performances and compositions by women composers.

The Michigan Philharmonic is proud to present our 2016-2017 Season ‘Empowering Women through music featuring Women Composers’. Opening our new season is Beethoven and Blue Jeans on Saturday October 8 at 7:30 pm, at the Village Theater on Cherry Hill Rd. in Canton. This curated concert blends joyful expectations and a connection with nature that permeates through the melodies of the three-featured pieces. Starting with Glinka’s Kamarinskaya where the traditional Russian dance folklore sets the tones for festivities. The celebration continues with Katherine Hoover’s Four Winds Flute Concerto, a piece that explores breath as the essential part of living depicting the wind at different times of the year, and is performed by our own Michigan Flute Star, Amy Porter. Closing this fantastic music experience with everyone’s favorite Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony; as Beethoven said the Sixth Symphony is "more the expression of feeling than painting".

Feel the breeze of fall with this warm bucolic season opener featuring Katherine’s Hoover Four Winds Flute Concerto.

For tickets, call 734.451.2112 or visit www.michiganphil.org