This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.
The North Carolina Symphony and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences are collaborating to present an out-of-this-world experience that combines the music of Gustav Holst’s famous symphonic suite The Planets with stunning images from NASA missions sent to explore the planets of our solar system. Led by conductor Carlos Izcaray, two multi-media performances will take place on November 18 and 19 at 8pm in Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall.
“I am thrilled at this continuing collaboration between the ‘natural’ and ‘cultural’ sides of our department, and it’s so exciting to see them align in this spectacular performance,” says Secretary Susan Kluttz of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “I am thankful to Governor Pat McCrory for his vision in recognizing the synergy that the Museum of Natural Sciences, along with the rest of our natural resource programs, would bring not only to the North Carolina Symphony, but to all of our cultural resources. This is another example of the wonderful things we can accomplish together.”
Simultaneously with the music being performed, audience members will see spectacular planetary imagery gathered from NASA missions as well as renderings created using innovative new software called OpenSpace. This cutting-edge software allows the audience to see an exact representation of the positioning of the planets and stars as they exist on the evening of the performance. The complete multi-media experience includes still and video images from the solar system, combined with live, close-up footage of the symphony’s musicians as they perform.
“The North Carolina Symphony has a longstanding belief that collaborations with other cultural and educational organizations create art experiences that are greater than the sum of our parts. Our partnership with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences provides our community with the opportunity to experience the music of The Planets like never before,” says North Carolina Symphony President and CEO Sandi Macdonald. “The breakthrough technology used to capture detailed images of our solar system will make this 100-year-old musical masterpiece by Gustav Holst even more powerful.”
“It remains rare for the worlds of science and the performing arts to display a common cause, yet calls for the nonprofit arena to blur its traditional boundaries are intensifying,” remarks Emlyn Koster, Director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. “Aligning images of celestial bodies with the rhythms of nature-inspired music — which is a national-model joint achievement of the Museum of Natural Sciences and the North Carolina Symphony — is a wonderful example of the dividends of the state of North Carolina recently forming a combined Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. It has never been more important for society to savor the interdependence of nature and humanity.”
North Carolina Symphony
Classical Series
The Planets: LIVE!
Friday & Saturday, November 18 & 19 at 8pm; Meet the Artists talk at 7pm
Meymandi Concert Hall
Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts
Program
Avner Dorman: Astrolatry
Jennifer Higdon: blue cathedral
Holst: The Planets
Performers
North Carolina Symphony
Carlos Izcaray, conductor
Tickets start at $66
Online: ncsymphony.org (TicketMaster fees apply)
By phone: 919.733.2750 ($4 handling fee applies)
In-person: NCS State Headquarters Offices (3700 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh)
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony is a vital and honored component of North Carolina’s cultural life. Its 175 concerts and events annually are greeted with enthusiasm by adults and schoolchildren in more than 90 North Carolina counties throughout the state — in communities large and small, and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. The Symphony’s 66 full-time musicians perform under the artistic leadership of Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Associate Conductor David Glover.
NCS’s state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The Symphony’s service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines, and Wilmington, as well as Summerfest concerts at the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world’s greatest artists to North Carolina, including Lang Lang, Stephen Hough, and Augustin Hadelich in the 2016/17 season.
Committed to engaging students across North Carolina, NCS conducts the most extensive education program of any U.S. orchestra. In alignment with the music curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra Education Concerts experienced by more than 52,000 4th and 5th graders each year. At the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences.
NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art, introducing North Carolina audiences to 20 works by living composers—including two co-commissions — in the past year. In its 83-year history, the Symphony has given 46 U.S. or world premieres. NCS will appear at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in spring 2017, as one of four orchestras chosen for the inaugural year of SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras — an honor that recognizes the Symphony’s innovative community partnerships and creative programming that inspires increased interest in new music. The Symphony will present works by composers with ties to North Carolina, including Sarah Kirkland Snider, Caroline Shaw, Mason Bates, and Robert Ward.
The first state-supported symphony in the country, NCS is an entity of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary Susan Kluttz, NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.
