Augusta Symphony Double Collaboration
We’ve got some exciting news to share about next year’s collaboration with the Augusta Symphony in Georgia. Starting with our concert in February 2022 we’ll be working with Maestro Dirk Meyer and the orchestra on not one but two upcoming seasons.
The first concert series, “Explore,” will present the premiere of a new version of our Czech Journeys visual concerto—in this case, our artist Nicholas Bardonnay has choreographed the visuals to Dvořák’s dramatic Symphony No. 7. Over its four movements the music paints a vivid picture of the composer’s passionate feelings toward his Czech homeland, and fittingly the visuals are a sweeping and impassioned tour through this fascinating country.
Czech Journeys was was originally commissioned to accompany Smetana’s Má Vlast by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony, and has since seen performances from Louisiana to Liverpool. For the visual production, Nicholas and retired-Westwater Arts founder, James Westwater, spent over two months photographing many facets of the Czech Republic from the bustle and medieval grandeur of Prague to the rolling countryside and charming towns of Bohemia and Moravia.
Alongside this exploration of Czech music and culture, Maestro Meyer has selected a few musical works by Liszt, Rodrigo and Price to offer additional cultural perspectives for the audience. The latter composer, Florence Price, was the first African American woman composer to be performed by a major orchestra, the Chicago Symphony in 1933.
