UPDATE: Full symphony concerts will not resume in January 2021 due to continuing pandemic restrictions; instead, Michelle Merrill and the Coastal Symphony of Georgia will be presenting small group performances with 5 concerts instead of 4 – each highlighting principal members of the orchestra — in outdoor venues, called Variations on a Season. Performances will start at 3:00 p.m. on select Sundays and open with introduction and remarks by Merrill. If you are not already a Symphony season ticket holder and wish to attend, tickets to individual concerts are $50 or $200 for the season.
Scheduled performances:
November 15 - Jazz from the American Songbook with the Jordan Gilman Quartet at Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick.
December 6 - Festive Christmas Brass at Gascoigne Park on St. Simons Island
March 14 - Seaside Serenade conducted by Michelle Merrill in the Atlantic Courtyard tent at The King and Prince Resort on St. Simons Island
April 11 - Vibes & Keys: Classical Meets Jazz at Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick
May 2 - Boulogne, Beethoven and Brilliant Strings conducted by Michelle Merrill in the Atlantic Courtyard tent at The King and Prince Resort on St. Simons Island
See individual concert dates on the EIL calendar for more details about each concert.
As faithful local patrons begin to anticipate the familiar seasonal offerings of local cultural arts, many may find themselves at this moment confronted with at least some degree of uncertainty. It is essential to know, however, that we are in good company, that we stand on the shoulders of giants. In challenging times William Faulkner was especially fond of embracing what he called recurring eternal verities, those values that provide a mantle of serenity and comfort. One of the most beloved of these is symphonic music.
To that end, The Coastal Symphony of Georgia is proud to announce that, while its 38th season has been unavoidably postponed this fall, the four performances are scheduled to commence in January 2021. It is reassuring to know that what matters most somehow persists; that necessary delay is not defeat. Michelle Merrill, Musical Director and Conductor, offers a new season that truly celebrates what continues to endure and thrive in orchestral composition.
Musical Director and Conductor Michelle Merrill
Opening night on January 25 commences with Sir William Walton’s Suite One from his Façade (a collaboration with poet Edith Stillwell), weaving an innovative potpourri of familiar styles of musical expression including a polka, a waltz, a yodeling song, a tango, and a tarantella! Then, the Symphony’s principal flautist, soloist Les Roettges, takes center stage in Carl Reinecke’s technically demanding Flute Concerto in D major. Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 ends the program, concluding with a majestic movement that feels like a victory hymn.
The second concert, March 8, begins with Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), an evocative 20th Century piece written with a fresh and joyful character. Camille Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto follows, featuring Christopher Adkins, principal cellist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Tremendously demanding for soloists, this work is a perennial favorite of virtuoso cellists and is included on Yo-Yo Ma’s recording of Five Great Cello Concertos. Dmitri Shostakovich’s soaring Fifth Symphony, written during Stalin’s notorious purges, closes the evening with its affirmation of triumph in a time of despair.
March 29th celebrates two giants of classical composition. An intriguing Don Juan by Richard Strauss launches the program, depicting a musical interpretation of this colorful character with a blend of boldness and playfulness, followed by an inevitable melancholy as the life story comes to a close. Johannes Brahms’ revered Symphony No. 2 concludes this evening of two super stars. However, a delightful surprise awaits the audience in between the Strauss and Brahms opuses. Siren Sounds Waltz by 15-year-old Alma Deutscher rejects the notion that 21st Century music should reflect the ugliness of contemporary conflicts. Instead, her waltz uses the sounds of the modern world and transforms them into something unexpectedly beautiful.
The final concert, April 12, offers a joyful presentation of a beloved icon. As part of a global initiative to honor Ludwig von Beethoven’s 250th birthday, the program will begin with the Coriolan Overture and end the evening with the complex and original Symphony No. 3, Eroica. Richard Wagner’s musical legacy provides a bridge between the two Beethoven pieces with his symphonic poem, Sigfried Idyll, a lilting expression of both paternal and romantic love.
This newest symphonic season may perhaps help us move forward with grace, its splendid music a kind of forever promise we continue to make to ourselves and to others. Faulkner believed that we would not merely endure; we would prevail because the uniqueness of our individual spirits continues to blend with a larger community that embraces the eternal verities. This persistent, magnificent endurance, so powerfully depicted in the music compositions and performances of these four concerts, is a central fact of the human condition and a reminder to honor the intricate connective web of those who have led the way, to remember who we are, and to go in peace.
The mission of the Coastal Symphony of Georgia is to engage, enrich, and inspire the community through artistically vibrant musical performances. For more information or to order season tickets, visit coastalsymphonyofgeorgia.org or call 912.634.2006.
