There may not be any lions, tigers and bears, but there will be “Stravinsky, Spohr and Still - oh my!” at the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra’s season opening concert this week. The performance marks not only the return of the orchestra to Westminster United Church but the audience as well.
“It feels like it’s been forever,” says MCO oboist Caitlin Broms-Jacobs. “It’s going to be incredible to be there with real people in the seats again.”
The first in-person concert in nearly a year, the program features a variety of composers — Barber, Stravinsky, Spohr and Still — showcasing the superb talents of the MCO musicians.
Audiences won’t just hear the fantastic playing of Broms-Jacobs but also her creativity as an arranger. Tackling the music of Igor Stravinsky in its original form is never an easy feat; wrestling the orchestral score of Pulcinella down to a quintet of players could be considered a task even more challenging.
Scored for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello, Broms-Jacobs notes the fine balance required when finessing a score as dazzling as Stravinsky’s down to a smaller group of players. “While still being a chamber ensemble, it has enough instruments with enough different colours to — I felt — encompass the range of ideas that go on in this amazing piece,”
MCO’s “Stravinsky, Spohr and Still - oh my!” takes place 7:30 pm at Westminster United Church Tuesday, September 21 with a second performance on Wednesday, September 22.
Audiences are required to purchase tickets in advance online (www.themco.ca) or over the phone (204.783.7377).
In the full conversation with Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, learn more about her experience as an arranger and the first piece she arranged (hint: definitely not classical); for whom her arrangement of Pulcinella was done; and, what she plans to mix up next!