Ukrainian-American Guest Conductor to Close Out SSO Season on May 13
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) will present “Beauty Amid Chaos,” its final concert of the 2022-23 season, on Saturday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall. The performance will feature Ukrainian-American guest conductor Theodore Kuchar and renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz.
Tickets are on sale, starting at $20, at www.springfieldsymphony.org. The SSO is partnering with Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts to support their Refugee Resettlement Program by asking concert attendees to bring items from the organization’s ‘wish list’ to the concert. These items will provide essential resources to refugees from countries like Ukraine and Haiti. Click here to view wish-list items. Those who donate items will be offered the chance to win a pair of tickets to the SSO’s 2023-24 opening-night concert.
According to Paul Lambert, president and CEO of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, “our theme in our final concert for the 2022-23 season, “Beauty Amid Chaos,” also could describe what is occurring in Ukraine, with artists and musicians still sharing their talents while war ravages their country. With this as backdrop, we are blessed to have Ukrainian-American Theodore Kuchar as guest conductor in this stirring presentation. We honor the people of Ukraine in this special evening with the incomparable Matt Haimovitz accompanying on cello.
“As we wind down our season, I want to thank our musicians, the SSO staff, all of our concert attendees, and the community at large for their partnership and collaboration in support of the SSO’s first full season of on-stage performances in two years with our 2022-23 season,” Lambert added. “We look forward to a new season with classical and pops performances, and the community’s continued support and engagement with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.”
“Beauty Amid Chaos” will open with Antonín Dvořák’s “Carnival Overture,” followed by Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann’s Cello Concerto, performed by Haimovitz; the piece was written in the wake of the Nuremberg Laws and rise of Nazi movement in Germany. The concert will close with Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. The time during which this piece was composed draws similarities to current events, as described on the symphony’s website: “The political oppression and desperation imposed by Russia on the Finnish nation slightly over one century ago is not dissimilar to the national destruction and genocide being presently inflicted on Ukraine by the same Russian nation.”
A Classical Conversation with Kuchar and Haimovitz will take place at 6:30 p.m. on May 13 for all ticket holders, and there will be a meet and greet following the performance in the Mahogany Room.
