This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.

The North Carolina Symphony will perform George Gershwin’s unforgettable Rhapsody in Blue in performances in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., and again on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10, 2015, at 8 p.m., in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh.

The concerts, led by conductor Edwin Outwater, will feature pianist Timo Andes performing the Rhapsody, as well as his own composition Old Keys; Gershwin’s An American in Paris; Mason Bates’ Rusty Air in Carolina; and Derek Bermel’s “Jamm on Toast,” from Voices, featuring Symphony Principal Clarinetist Andrew Lowy.

North Carolina Symphony Scholar-in-Residence William Robin writes, “Gershwin called the Rhapsody a ‘musical kaleidoscope of America — of our vast melting pot, of our incomparable national pep, our blues, our metropolitan madness.’ The idea for the work seized him during a rattling train ride, and its composition took only a few weeks. Though the tunes that undergird the work probably came out of songs from his Broadway backlog, they are equally effective in a symphonic context. The entire work is encapsulated in its opening clarinet solo, matching a jazzy glissando to an expansive, ornamented melody built around blue notes. The ensuing dialogue between virtuosic piano and punchy orchestra …captures the spirit of New York in the 1920s.”

Edwin Outwater is Music Director of Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and regularly guest conducts the Chicago and New World Symphonies. Equally at home interpreting canonical masterworks, premiering new commissions, and creating truly innovative, audience building programming initiatives, the American conductor is, as San Francisco Classical Voice recently observed, “headed for a top-tier future.”

Timo Andres is a composer and pianist who grew up in rural Connecticut and now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. His debut album, Shy and Mighty, which features ten interrelated pieces for two pianos performed by himself and pianist David Kaplan, was released by Nonesuch Records in May 2010 to immediate critical acclaim. Of the disc, Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that Shy and Mighty “achieves an unhurried grandeur that has rarely been felt in American music since John Adams came on the scene… more mighty than shy, [Andres] sounds like himself.”

Andrew Lowy has served as Principal Clarinetist of the North Carolina Symphony since 2010. He recently was appointed to the 2nd/E-flat Clarinet Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Harvard College, where he studied music and linguistics and pursued graduate work at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. In 2012, Mr. Lowy made his solo debut with the North Carolina Symphony, performing works of Debussy and Weber. Besides his work with the Symphony, he has been an active chamber musician in the Triangle, performing with the Mallarmé Chamber Players and appearing on the Manning Chamber Music Series at William Peace University.

In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events.  For the Chapel Hill performance on Jan. 8, 2015, Symphony Scholar-in-Residence William Robin will host an Evening Overtures program at 6:30 p.m. in Gerrard Hall.  Evening Overtures feature chamber music performances and discussions that allow for a deeper exploration of the music.  Generous support for Evening Overtures has been provided by the Hulka Fund for Chamber Music.  Before the Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, concert Robin will host a Meet the Artist session at 7 p.m. in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall.  Before the Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, performance, Robin will give a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. in the Swalin Lobby.  

Tickets to the Chapel Hill Classical Series performance on Jan. 8, 2015, and the Raleigh Classical Series performances on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10, 2015, range from $18 to $75.  Student tickets are $10.  Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.

Other 2014-15 season highlights include the beautiful and romantic film Casablanca that also features a stunning musical score on Valentine’s weekend, and for the season finale in May, a collaboration with Playmaker’s Repertory Company on a new, semi-staged production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.  Memorial Hall is located at 114 East Cameron Ave., on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Partners for the 2014/15 Chapel Hill Series include Carol Woods Retirement Community, and The Businesses of Market Street, Southern Village. 

Partners for the 2014/15 Raleigh Classical Series include Clancy & Theys Construction; Duke Realty; and Smith Anderson.  

The Chapel Hill and Raleigh performances are also made possible in part by The Arthur and Campbell Moss Solo Artist Fund.

About the North Carolina Symphony

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony gives more than 200 performances annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 66 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry, and Associate Conductor David Glover.

Based in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington — as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year — and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.

Jan. 8, 2015 Concert/Event Listings:

North Carolina Symphony
“Rhapsody in Blue”
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Timo Andres, piano
Andrew Lowy, clarinet

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, 7:30pm
Memorial Hall, UNC-Chapel Hill

Jan. 9-10, 2015 Concert/Event Listings

North Carolina Symphony
“Rhapsody in Blue”
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Timo Andres, piano
Andrew Lowy, clarinet

Jan. 9-10, 2015, 8 p.m.
Meymandi Concert Hall, Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh

Jan. 8-10, 2015 Program Listing

North Carolina Symphony
“Rhapsody in Blue”
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Timo Andres, piano
Andrew Lowy, clarinet

BATES   Rusty Air in Carolina
  Nan’s Porch
  Katydid Country
  Southern Midnight
  Locusts Singing in the Heat of Dawn

GERSHWIN   Rhapsody in Blue
    Timo Andres, piano

ANDRES   Old Keys
    Timo Andres, piano

GERSHWIN   An American in Paris

BERMEL   “Jamm on Toast” from Voices
    Andrew Lowy, clarinet