Reno Phil Selected Pieces Focus on Military Battles and Victories

Military-inspired compositions and young talent are the focus of the Reno Phil’s Classix Three, set for Jan. 15 and Jan. 17, 2017 at the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts. Featured guest artists and Davidson Fellows Simone Porter, violin, and Nathan Chan, cello, perform Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, op. 102. The long-time friendship between these two young prodigies is evident during performances.

At age 20, Porter is heralded as an emerging artist of impassioned energy, musical integrity and vibrant sound. Her performances have been described as "bold" (Seattle Times), "virtuosic" (London Times) and she has been praised as "a consummate chamber musician" (The Telegraph). Porter has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She made her professional solo debut at age 10 with the Seattle Symphony and her international debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at age 13. Porter played with the Reno Phil in 2012.

Chan’s talent was evident as a toddler when his conducting imitations caught the eye of San Francisco Opera Assistant Conductor Sara Jobin. Making his debut at age three, he led the San Jose Chamber Orchestra in a set of Mozart variations, despite not being able to read music. Guest appearances followed with the Palo Alto Philharmonic a year later where he conducted the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

He has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, Albany Symphony and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, among others. Chan has performed for the Vancouver Recital Society, the Great Eastern International Kids Festival “Prodigies of the World” concert in Singapore, the Emmy-award winning NPR program From The Top and NPR's Performance Today with Fred Child. In 2009, he was featured in The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies. In 2017, he will join the St. Louis Symphony and perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony as a cellist in the section. This is Chan’s second performance with the Reno Phil, playing with the orchestra in 2014.

“The pieces performed bring together personal triumph during a time of military upheaval through to victory,” Laura Jackson, music director and conductor, said. “The feelings of deception, betrayal and loneliness felt during the battle sequences build up to a celebration of wartime victory and subsequent celebration. Adding to the emotional drama will be incredibly moving performances by our soloists Simone and Nathan. Their performance speaks to their youthful energy and remarkable talent.”

Wagner’s first major work, Overture to Rienzi, features a tale of heroic uprising that eventually ends in betrayal. Brahms pays tribute to a friend’s motto “Free but Lonely,” in his Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, and is in complete contrast to Wagner and their longstanding dispute.

As someone who often protested within, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 shows his support for Russia’s WWII victory over Germany, personal glorification of Stalin and is the finale of a trilogy that began in 1941 with the Leningrad Symphony and continued through 1945 when it appeared victory was inevitable. Of the piece, his is credited with saying, "On the threshold of approaching victory, we must honor with reverence the memory of the brave soldiers who have died, and glorify the heroes of our army for all eternity."

Tickets are $33 - $89 with senior and student rush ticket pricing available. Purchase online at RenoPhil.com or by calling 775-323-6393.

Performances are Sunday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. and Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. Inside the Music with Laura Jackson takes place Jan. 15 at 3 p.m. and Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. The preview provides attendees a background and historical context to the music to be performed.

About the Reno Phil
The Reno Phil is northern Nevada’s largest performing arts organization. In its 48th season, the orchestra, led by music director Laura Jackson, is comprised of more than 80 professional musicians who perform more than 30 concerts annually throughout the Reno-Tahoe region. Musicians of the professional orchestra, youth orchestras, various ensembles and education programs offer more than 60 performances each year, playing to more than 50,000 people. The flagship of the Reno Phil is its concert series offering six classic music series, Classix, performed on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. To learn more about the Reno Philharmonic and its events, and to discover all that the Reno Phil has to offer, visit RenoPhil.com.