Adrian Symphony Orchestra opens 2022-23 season with new concertmaster
ADRIAN — As the Adrian Symphony Orchestra begins its 2022-23 season this Sunday, Oct. 9, it also starts a new era with the introduction of its new concertmaster, Michael Romans.
Romans, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, comes to the ASO after a search process that brought four finalists in for concerts last season. Once those concerts were complete, Romans was the hands-down choice for both ASO Music Director Bruce Anthony Kiesling and the orchestra’s musicians themselves.
“He’s a fine musician and a great leader,” Kiesling said, “and he and the orchestra mesh well together.”
Sunday’s concert begins at 3 p.m. at Adrian College’s Dawson Auditorium. A Classical Conversation about the music begins at 2:10 p.m.
The program includes “Bal Masque” by American composer Amy Beach; Bruch’s Violin Concerto performed by guest artist Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s associate concertmaster; and Rimsky Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.”
Tickets are $32/$29/$21 for adults, $30/$27/$21 for senior citizens, and $18/$15 for students, and are available online at adriansymphony.org, by calling 517-264-3121, or at the door beginning at 1 p.m. on concert day.
More:Adrian Symphony Orchestra to host top violinists in 2022-23
A native of Springfield, Virginia, Romans’ violin training began in fourth grade, although violin actually wasn’t his instrument of choice back then.
“I originally told my mom I wanted to play cello,” he said. But because of what it would take to haul a cello around all the time, “she told me it would be violin or viola.”
He did his undergraduate work at Indiana University-Bloomington and came to U-M when he began his master’s degree. Once he finishes his doctorate, “my master plan is to be a jack of all trades violinist.”
Being named the ASO’s new concertmaster is “very gratifying and satisfying to me,” he said. He’s already familiar with many of the musicians, having played with the orchestra a few times before deciding to apply for the concertmaster role, and he finds the orchestra members “all just really kind and very welcoming.”
The task of the concertmaster in any orchestra is not only to be the principal first violinist, but to be a liaison between the musicians and the music director.
“Being a good concertmaster is about being a leader,” Romans said.
The person in that job must not only create cohesion in the string section itself, but “serves as the eyes and ears of the orchestra” too, by listening to what’s going on in rehearsals and, for example, asking the conductor to look at things in the rehearsal that need attention.
Romans admits that, given that he’s also immersed in his doctoral work, “it’s a lot to balance. But I’m looking forward to the experience.”
And this first concert puts him in the spotlight right away.
The main work on the program, “Scheherazade,” features a prominent role for the violin soloist — Romans, in this case — as the voice of Scheherazade, the woman at the heart of the story.
Rimsky-Korsakov’s four-movement suite was inspired by the ancient Arabic tales known as “One Thousand and One Nights,” in which a ruler who has had a series of wives executed is enthralled by the stories told by the next wife in line, Scheherazade.
The ruler intends to have her executed as well, but because she ends one story and begins another right away, he delays her fate over and over — for a thousand and one nights — because he wants to know how each story ends.
The solo violin representing Scheherazade is heard at the beginning of every movement to signal that a new story is about to be told, and in the suite’s ending moments as well, where “there’s this beautiful transformation moment and everyone lives happily ever after,” Romans said.
While he’s played this particular music before, he knows that coming into it this week, given his new role, will be very different.
“First rehearsals are very telling because it shows a lot about how the rest of the process is going to go,” he said. “So it’s important to me to have all my ducks in a row.”
Kennedy, the concert’s guest soloist, represents the first of three concertmasters, the others being Martin Chalifour of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and David Kim of the Philadelphia Orchestra, who will perform in what the ASO is calling “the season of the concertmaster.”
Romans said he’s eager to work with, and learn from, each of these musicians, who are the concertmasters of three of the world’s best orchestras.
“I can’t wait to pick their brains,” he said. “They’re the absolute best at what they do. Every one of them has a different approach to leadership and I’m looking forward to hearing what they have to say.”
And he’s also looking forward to the year ahead for him and the ASO. “I’m really excited about this season,” he said, “and I’m really excited about this role and to bring this music to the people of Adrian.”
If you go
WHAT: “Scheherazade,” the Adrian Symphony Orchestra’s season opener with guest artist Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy
WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. A Classical Conversation begins at 2:10 p.m.
WHERE: Dawson Auditorium, Adrian College
TICKETS: $32/$29/$21 for adults, $30/$27/$21 for senior citizens, $18/$15 for students
HOW TO ORDER: Online at adriansymphony.org, by calling 517-264-3121, at the door beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian Symphony Orchestra opens 2022-23 season with new concertmaster
