The concert on Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College will feature the return to Holland of one of our favorite artists, Andrew Le, pianist.  He will perform Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and Conductor, conducting. The concert will open with Ana Lara's striking Fire and Ice.  Anne Clyne's Restless Oceans will lead the way to Claude Debussy's epic masterpiece, La Mer.

Made possible through the generous support of Ruth & David Crouch and John & Ann Query.

ANA LARA           Angels of Fire and Ice
RAVEL                 Piano Concerto in G
ANNA CLYNE      Restless Oceans
DEBUSSY           La Mer

Famed Mexican composer Ana Lara’s powerful 1994 orchestral statement tells stories of angels “full of color … Darkness begins with the ancient Earth opening its mouth and intoning a primal, indescribable sound from the depths of the orchestra, like a prelude to an Inca Das Rheingold” (L. A. Times). Think Orff’s Carmina Burana meets Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle and hold on to your seat.

While Ravel’s fascination with machines and jazz contributes to the percussive, whimsical nature of his piano concerto, packed full of colorful wind passages, a harp solo, and waltz tunes, he states that “the music of a concerto should be lighthearted and brilliant, and not aim at profundity or at dramatic effects.” Born in Vietnam, pianist and Steinway Artist Andrew (Drew) Le has been hailed as "an impressive tour-de-force...a plenitude of poetic nuance" (New York Concert Review), and lauded for his "consummate piano virtuosity" (Goleta Valley Voice) and his "pistonlike precision" (Mountain Tradition).

Composed in 2018 for the renowned female conductor Marin Alsop and an all-female orchestra, the jarring work Restless Oceans has musicians singing and stomping their feet and was inspired by the poem by Audre Lorde entitled A Woman Speaks. “My intention was to write a defiant piece that embraces the power of women.”-Anna Clyne

To round out this program focused on exploring the amazing palette of colors found in the full orchestra and the way poetry and art influence composers we hear Debussy’s epic tone poem dedicated to the sea (La Mer). With two harps and an expanded percussion section, this musical journey uses the vast forces of the orchestra to depict all the different characters of the waves, wind, and depth of the sea.

Holland Symphony Orchestra presents a concert of tradiitonal holiday classics as we celebrate the season.  Local favorite Jennie Reyes will join HSO to share her gifts with us.  

The "Scottish Influence" concert will be performed on Saturday, March 22, 2025, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College, conducted by Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director. The concert open's with Felix Mendelssohn's musical depiction of The Hebrides and concludes with his Scottish Symphony will be Florence Price's beautiful Andante Moderato for strings will be followed Camille Saint-Saëns's Introduction and Rondo and Capriccioso, performed by Letitia Jap, violinist.

Sergei Rachmaninoff's grand Second Symphony is the centerpiece of the concert on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College. Johannes Müller Stosch, will conduct the final concert of the 24-25 season.  A young cellist, Cameron Renshaw, will perform Max Bruch's emotional Kol Nidre.  The concert will open with a piece chosen by the HSO audience.  Look for ways to vote in Fall, 2024!

Concert Sponsor: George and Sibilla Boerigter.