Producing side-by-side concerts is something Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra music director Suzette Battan has always loved to do.
So when Tucson Symphony Orchestra music director José Luis Gomez invited Battan’s students to play with the professionals, she was thrilled, to say the least.
In the second half of “Bravo TSO” on Thursday, March 29, members of the youth orchestra will come on stage to play alongside their professional counterparts.
Gomez said that when he listened to the youth orchestra play, he was very moved by what he heard: Nothing but dedication and talent, he said. His invitation to the group to perform with the TSO was a first for the orchestra in nearly 30 years. The last time the TSO and Philharmonia Youth shared a stage was in the late 1980s.
The first half of the March 29 concert will feature just the TSO, with the winners of its annual Young Artists Competition, including 17-year-old Levi Powe, who has won the competition three times.
Levi is a seasoned cellist who also won first place in the Junior Division of the prestigious Sphinx Competition, which is open to African-American and Hispanic musicians. Also among his achievements: Powe was a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition and participated in the National Youth Orchestra.
When both ensembles take the stage, there will be more than 120 musicians, a perfect opportunity to perform big works for classical music, Battan said. The program includes piano concertos by Mozart and Beethoven, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Shostakovich’s “Festive” overture.
“When maestro Gomez looked at our repertoire, it suited the double orchestra because the Shostakovich calls for extra brass, the ‘Russian Sailors Dance’ calls for extra percussion and the Tchaikovsky is … exciting and really speaks to how well a symphony can sound,” she said.
The program is old hat for the TSO, but for the Philharmonia it’s a chance to introduce major works of symphonic literature that it doesn’t often perform, Battan said.
“We prepare them to enter the university level and go beyond if that’s their aspiration,” Battan said.
“So we’re picking pieces that are at professional level.”
Gomez said the concert is all about making deeper connections with Tucson’s music community and allowing the youths to gain experience as the next generation of musicians.
“We’re doing more than just playing classical music,” he said. “We’re bringing out kids and new talent and nurturing them and showcasing them as ourselves.”
