Westmoreland Symphony season opener features classical saxophonist

Oct. 11—The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra will display its full range and power in its 2022-23 season-opening concert, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

"I wanted to choose a big piece with a lot of instrumental color, to capitalize on the sound the orchestra can make and the acoustics of The Palace Theatre," said WSO Artistic Director Daniel Meyer, who will conduct.

The big piece that will conclude the evening is Austrian composer Josef Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, Romantic.

The orchestra will open with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Oboe Concerto, featuring soloist Steven Banks on soprano saxophone.

"The Bruckner was chosen to show off the opulence of the orchestra," Meyer said. "It's one of those pieces you just have to experience live in the hall to get a full appreciation of what he's doing with the sonics of the orchestra."

The composer gave the symphony the subtitle "Romantic" — "not in the sense of Valentine's Day passion, but romance in terms of medieval scenes — castles, princes and princesses," Meyer said. "The scherzo, the third movement of the symphony, is dedicated to the hunt, so you'll hear these wonderful horn calls that are reminiscent of a medieval hunt."

Written in 1874 and revised several times through 1888, the symphony reflects experiences of the Austrian countryside and is one of Bruckner's most popular works.

"There are also some introspective, quiet moments contrasted with incredibly powerful, almost bombastic moments, where the winds and brass are playing at full strength," Meyer said. "And there are some elegantly woven string melodies in between those bombastic moments, that make this music so fascinating and so fun to experience.

"For me, the Fourth Symphony combines inner drama, exquisite details and staggeringly impressive sonics to create an unforgettable impact — much like that of seeing Notre Dame Cathedral or beholding the grandeur of the Grand Canyon for the very first time," he said.

Off the beaten path

Of the Mozart piece, Meyer said, "It's unusual for a saxophone player to be playing a concerto originally written for oboe, but (Banks) is going to be playing it on soprano saxophone, which is a shorter instrument and doesn't have the typical curve that an alto or baritone sax would have. Its range fits beautifully with that of the oboe.

"As far as instruments that solo with a symphony orchestra, (the saxophone) is a little off the beaten path," he said. "It's a relatively new instrument and, in our country, it's mostly associated with jazz music.

"Steven has devoted his life and career to the art of the saxophone and has been committed to the saxophone as a classical instrument," Meyer added.

Banks' website describes him as "an ambassador for the classical saxophone" and "an artist with a commitment to rethinking and expanding the boundaries of classical music."

A graduate of the Indiana University and Northwestern University schools of music, Banks is on the faculty at the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut and is a guest professor at Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also part of a project seeking to commission new pieces for saxophone and orchestra, Meyer said.

Banks is the winner of the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant and was the first saxophonist to earn first prize at the Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, in 2019.

"He's also a composer, and I think he brings part of that sensibility to his music-making, that creative mind and the idea of how to really inhabit a piece of music and bring it to life," Meyer said. "He loves the music of Mozart and wanted to play this particular concerto, and I thought it would make a lovely pairing with the Bruckner symphony."

The Oboe Concerto is "a delightful dialog between the soloist and the orchestra. It has all the lyrical beauty of a Mozart aria, but it also has the vigor and excitement of a virtuoso concerto," Meyer added.

Tickets for the concert are $18-$63, available at the door, by calling 724-837-1850 or online at westmorelandsymphony.org.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .