The Jefferson City Symphony Orchestra will be bringing "variety with familiarity" at their upcoming concert, which features music from all over the world -- along with two conductors and an award-winning pianist.
JCSO presents Matteo Generani at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Mitchell Auditorium at Lincoln University. The concert will be conducted by maestros Joseph Choi and Dan Harbaugh, with Choi conducting the first half and Harbaugh the second. All ages are welcome.
The performance will include a variety of music from composers around the world, including Franz von Suppe, Richard Wagner, Aaron Copland, Alberto Ginastera and Camille Saint Saens. Each piece offers a unique energy, from Copeland's 20th century western style ballet score "Rodeo" to Ginastera's lively Argentinian influences, to the building Germanic style of Wagner and famed concerto of Camille Saint Saens.
For listeners, it'll be a "buffet style" musical menu, Choi said.
"The pieces being performed are all unique, fun and upbeat but all from different parts of the world," he said, adding the numbers could be interesting to even the youngest audiences.
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Choi is most excited to revisit a piece he was close to conducting before the pandemic. Two years ago, he was conducting a symphony performance of Copeland's "Buckaroo Holiday" when "everything stopped" due to COVID-19. So when he was able to serve as a guest conductor with JSCO, he proposed the piece -- and it was accepted.
For him, it feels like a kind of closure. And he's not the only one.
Featured pianist Generani was supposed to perform in April 2020 after winning the Jefferson City Piano Concerto Competition in 2019, but the pandemic pushed his performance back a year, then another year. He's excited for this slow down of cases to finally be able to perform.
Generani has enjoyed working with Harbaugh, who is conducting his movements, which he describes as "a mixture of many different cultures" -- in his piece, Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, also known as "The Egyptian," there are Asian, African and Persian influences.
"It's a very eclectic program, so it's exciting for the audience, too," Generani said. "I'm sure they're going to enjoy it."
Although the two conductors are competing for a full-time position with JCSO, Harbaugh, who is currently director of bands for Jefferson City High School, said the competition isn't fierce -- in fact, the two discovered they have mutual friends.
They found when talking about their music experiences that Choi worked with one of Harbaugh's former mentors at Shenandoah University in Virginia. As they've gotten to know each other better, Harbaugh said they've found more and more connections. This isn't surprising, though.
"The music world is way smaller than we think," he said. "His list of past experiences is long, long, long. A lot more of mine has been through academia at public schools."
Ultimately, they just enjoy making music with the symphony, and they know whomever is chosen will get to work with a great group of people.
"It's been very interesting because it literally puts two conductors side-by-side, where there are clear comparisons," Choi said. "But both of us are not really competitive. We're taking it as co-conductors."
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Thanks to the cultural variety of the show, the conductors were able to add one more piece to the beginning -- the Ukrainian national anthem -- in a sign of solidarity with the war-torn country.
Choi said many orchestras around the world have been doing the same, either performing the national anthem or pieces by Ukrainian composers. Generani said he thinks it's wonderful to see institutions expressing their unity. Being Italian, he feels close to the travesties there -- and music creates a bridge for others to feel unified, too, he noted.
"The main purpose of music is to share the happy things and also sad things," he said. "I think to share that music with grief helps us to express it without saying any words. Just open your heart and listen."
Harbaugh said he hopes there's more that music can do, but this is a start.
"With the trajectory of what's happening in that part of the world, it's not just necessary, but our duty," he said. "However we can show our support, that's what we can do."
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students. They are available for purchase at Capital Music Company, Field Violins, Will West Music & Sound and at the door.
GMM-JCSO Rehearsal with second Conductor. Shaun Zimmerman / News Tribune
GMM-JCSO Rehearsal with first Conductor and pianist Matteo Generani. Shaun Zimmerman / News Tribune