STUDIO STAGE | Orchestra I.S. | Opacity
Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall, Longy School of Music, 27 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
In the optometrist’s chair and being asked, “this one or this one, this one or this one, this one or this one,” the doctor is working towards the right prescription. The one that brings clarity, and with this clarity, with the right glasses, you can see each and every leaf on the Autumn tree. This is music of the classical period, clarity over abstraction, simplicity over ornamentalism. But clarity is not always preferred, and not always possible. This concert puts the spectrum of clarity on display. On one end, Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 is a 20th century nod to the transparency of a much older music, while on the other, three Longy composers, Tristan Johnson, Alex Van Sant, and Rose Williams, use varying degrees of blur, obscuring narrative and meaning, to convey their 21st century truths. Longy’s Orchestra I.S. brings together our full student body of brass, string, and woodwind players to perform diverse repertoire drawn from both the canon and today. With Longy faculty playing side by side with students under the direction of guest conductors, the aptly named Orchestra I.S. is both the name of our orchestra and an invitation to fill in the blank. What I.S. an…