The Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra returns to the Howard Performing Arts Center on the Andrews University campus in Berrien Springs for a performance of the works of Tchaikovsky and a showcase of one of the Symphony’s music director finalists, Grant Harville.
Event details: What: “Taking Flight”
Where: The Howard Performing Arts Center, Andrews University, Berrien Springs
*Per the Howard Performing Arts Center, Masks are required for this event*
When: Sunday, March 20, 2022
· 3 pm – Pre-concert conversation with the music director
· 4 pm – The concert begins
Tickets are $20/$35; student tickets are $5.
They are available online at www.smso.org, by calling the SMSO office at 269-982-4030 or in person at 513 Ship St., St. Joseph
In the “Taking Flight” Mainstage Concert, the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra will feature musical director finalist Grant Harville as the conductor. This collection features SMSO’s own Kathryne Salo.
Prior to the performance, Harville will host a pre-concert conversation at 3 pm.
The music for the performance includes: Capriccio Italien Tchaikovsky Flute Concerto Ibert Kathryne Salo, flute Oiseaux bleus et sauvages Morlock Suite from The Firebird Stravinsk
Harville chose “Capriccio Italien” as it was one of the first pieces he ever conducted as a student and he is happy to have the chance to revisit it.
“Conceived during one of Tchaikovsky’s Italian sojourns, it has all the traditional Tchaikovsky hallmarks: great tunes, impeccable orchestration, Hollywood ending,” he explained. “Being a capriccio, the melodies basically come and go as they please, which gives the piece a pleasantly travelogue-ish feeling.” Harville said he is looking forward to working with Salo on Ibert’s “brilliant, spicy, French-as-all-get-out Flute Concerto.”
Salo had been scheduled to perform the same piece, Ibert’s Flute Concerto, in March 2020 before the beginning of the pandemic forced the shut down of the concert two days prior to its scheduled date. Harville thought it would be a nice opportunity to bring Salo back to perform the piece in which she had already been invested.
Salo said she is grateful for this chance for reinvention. “I associate the original concert’s cancellation with a lot of other sad endings. But at this point, I’ve never been more aware of the purpose of music in genuine human connection,” Salo said. “So, take a break from social media and come see a concert!”
Music director finalist Harville is the winner of the London Conducting Masterclass Competition and the Agatha C. Church Conducting Award, and is Music Director and Conductor for the Great Falls Symphony Association. He previously served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and earned a 20 Under 40 award from the Southeast Idaho Business Journal.
He has an extensive professional background, having served as Artistic Director of the Bozeman Symphony, Associate Conductor of the Georgia Symphony, Orchestra Director at Ripon College, and Music Director for Fraser Lyric Opera and multiple Madison Savoyards productions. His guest conducting appearances include the Great Falls Symphony, Bozeman Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Georgia Symphony, Oistrach Symphony, and Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City.
He has collaborated with numerous artists of international stature, including Bela Fleck, Martina Filjak, Orion Weiss, Dominic Cheli, Chee-Yun, William Hagen, Stephanie Chase, Inbal Segev, Jiji, Patrick Sheridan, as well as groups such as Pink Martini, Time for Three, and the Hubbard Street Dance Company. He conducted the first full-length orchestral program in the United States with French-Canadian folk group Le Vent du Nord.
Harville pursued his music studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Michigan.
