Weekend pick: At the annual FOOSA concert at Shaghoian Hall, you can beat the heat with a cold winter storm
By Donald Munro
It might be broiling in the real Alps right now, thanks to the European heat wave, but it is forever stormy in composer Richard Strauss’ “Eine Alpensinfonie”(An Alpine Symphony”). This tone poem for orchestra depicts a hiking expedition up an imposing Alpine mountain.
The piece is a great way to distract you from the Fresno heat, says Thomas Loewenheim, artistic director of the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy (FOOSA for short).
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“Our percussionists are working the thunder sheets and wind machine really hard, and I am sure the audience will get chills when hearing the concert on Sunday,” Loewenheim says. “A very welcome change from the warm weather we had here this past week.”
Audiences actually have two opportunities to hear the Strauss piece performed by the 140-piece FOOSA Philharmonic as part of a concert titled “Peaks and Passions.” The orchestra is performing tonight (Friday, June 26) at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles as part of the festival’s annual Southern California field trip. The musicians return to Fresno to perform 3 p.m. Sunday, June 28, at Shaghoian Concert Hall. The program also includes also features Béla Bartók’s dramatic suite from “The Miraculous Mandarin.” The orchestra includes exceptional students and distinguished faculty from around the world.
The concert is the culmination of a two-week festival hosted jointly by Fresno State’s School of Music and the Youth Orchestras of Fresno.
You can purchase reserved seats to the Fresno concert to guarantee seating. Complimentary seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
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I caught up with Loewenheim on Thursday to ask him a few questions about this year’s festival and concert.
Q: Where are a few of the farthest-flung places from which your students and teachers came from for this year’s festival?
A: We have students who come literally from all over the world. As I was thinking of this question I realized we have students representing North America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. I believe this year we have the largest FOOSA Philharmonic with 140 members which includes the faculty and students. We have a large delegation of students from Puerto Rico, as well as students from China, Korea, Japan, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, and all over the United States, to mention just a few of the countries represented. It has become harder to keep track as the festival has grown so much and the students get to travel from all over to come to Fresno for this musical experience.
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Q: One special thing about the concerts is that students perform with their teachers. Can you give an example of one of the instrument sections that typifies this?
A: What is amazing about FOOSA is that literally all the instrumental sections have the teachers performing with their students. Each section in the orchestra has faculty members leading them in the orchestra and making comments to the students as we progress in the rehearsals. In addition, each section has individual lessons with the professors in the mornings and sectionals in which they work on the orchestra music during the afternoon. This creates a strong bond between the students and their mentors, and I enjoy seeing the students follow their faculty around during the day, creating a strong bond between them. It helps up make the music so intense as each section gets the needed time to unify their sound and approach to each piece. I am trying to think whether one section would typify it more than others, but I can’t. I think all my colleagues take this festival very seriously, and we have an amazing family-like feeling and each faculty member treats their students with much love, care, and support.
Q: Do you still get thrilled when you walk onto the stage at Disney Concert Hall?
A: Absolutely! I have been nervous already for the entire week thinking of the day of performance at the Disney Concert Hall. Just thinking of all the great artists that performed there in the past and what an honor it is to be on that stage. Each year I tell the students: “Do you know what is the best thing about Disney Hall?” Then I answer: “That I can hear each and everyone of you… “ And then I ask: “Do you know what is the worst thing about Disney Hall?” And as all are staring at me, I reply: “That I can hear each and every one of you…”
That hall has perfect acoustics. One can hear the sum of all the musicians in that special warm orchestral sound that surrounds you while still hearing every detail and each instrument. It is a daunting and exhilarating task to make it all happen in just one day, but the reward of the excellent music making makes the effort worth it.
Walking on the stage for the concert is the most exciting, thrilling, and demanding thing one can imagine doing. And now that the FOOSA Philharmonic Orchestra has got its high-level reputation, it is even more so as we must deliver the highest quality that the audience is now expecting.
Q: When you play the Strauss piece Eine Alpensinfonie on Sunday, will you blast some extra cold air into Shaghoian Hall?
A: The Alpine Symphony depicts a day in the Alps from sunrise to sunset. One can hear the waterfalls, cow bells, birds chirping, some of the most beautiful melodies ever written, and of course in the center of the piece is the storm up on the mountain. When depicting the storm, Strauss is asking for a wind machine and thunder sheets while the string instruments have glissandos going up and down, all helping to depict the strong winds and stormy weather.
5. What’s your favorite thing about FOOSA?
A: Musically speaking, FOOSA is the highlight of my year where I get to work on the highest level of music making and conduct my esteemed colleagues and all the fantastic students that we get from around the globe and the Central Valley. However, my favorite thing about FOOSA is the special supportive environment we manage to create each year. Almost all the faculty have been with us from the beginning of the festival, and we have many returning students, which creates the feeling of a large family. Seeing everyone each year and working together is the secret of the FOOSA magic. Hearing the orchestra on the first day and then today at the final rehearsal before we leave for LA and witnessing the growth of each and every musician and the orchestra as a whole is the true magic of this festival.
What makes FOOSA so special is the large number of people who support the festival and help make it a reality. The support of the board members of the Youth Orchestras of Fresno, as well as the faculty and administration of Fresno State, as well as the many community members who help and support the festival, is what makes the festival possible. All the people coming together that make it possible to have a world-class music festival that enriches our valley and gives our youth the opportunity to be part of such an incredible opportunity in a supportive and kind environment is what make FOOSA special to me and is also my favorite thing about FOOSA.
