March 2024 Concert Program

Letter from the Music Director Our gala 50th anniversary season continues! This afternoon, we will present some of the most wonderful young talent in Northern California. The theme of this concert is primarily to showcase what our young artists are doing as soloists, composers, and conductors. The future of music is in great hands, as you will see with this musical experience today. We will begin with another fanfare, our theme throughout the season. After the fanfare, you will hear a series of beautiful pieces composed, conducted, or played on the keyboard by young artists. Bizet's Symphony in C was a student piece the composer wrote when he was at the Conservatory in Paris. It was actually found much later and published. It proved to show his early genius as a teenage composer. It's hard to imagine that this masterpiece was written by someone who was only a student. Going forward, our newly-appointed assistant conductor will conduct a piece of his choice that was selected for this concert. We are proud to have Miguel with us! We have a rare treat for you: Christopher Neimann conducts his original composition in a world-premier performance today! This piece, called "Renewal," is a personal musical depiction of a journey from dark to light during the pandemic. In his own words: "Year: 2020. Month: March. The world was thrust into uncertainty. With one false restart after the next, this wasn't going to end soon. People have gone through desperate measures to retain their happiness while navigating rapid-fire changes. Returning to a sense of global normalcy would be a tumultuous task at best. And after four long years, the South Valley Symphony has returned to its former glory." Finally, we will feature our first-place winner of the Navaroli Concerto Competition. You will hear the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the most difficult and colorful pieces in the entire piano repertoire, performed by Katelyn Deng, our 2024 1st-place competition winner. We hope you enjoy this concert; thank you for your support, and please come back on Mother's Day when we have our grand finale performance!

Anthony Quartuccio Jr. South Valley Symphony Music Director and Conductor