Miguel Harth-Bedoya, music director laureate of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and director of orchestral studies at Baylor University, will lead the Rice Shepherd School of Music symphony and chamber orchestras March 2 and 3, respectively.
Both performances will be held in Alice Pratt Brown Hall’s Stude Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
For the symphony orchestra’s program “Rhythmic Revelry,” concertgoers will journey across the globe with Harth-Bedoya and the orchestra as they deliver a program of high-energy music, beginning with Jimmy López Bellido’s “Fiesta!,” which fuses Latin American and Afro-Peruvian influences, modern pop music and more. Inspired by the glittering, hypnotic beauty of Balinese gamelan, the world premiere of “A Cassette from Banglé” showcases the talents of Shepherd School music composition alumnus Daniel Leibovic ’23, who was also present for some of the orchestra rehearsals.
“There's nothing like working physically with a living composer,” Harth-Bedoya said. “Once the composer hears the music, in person, the whole thing changes because now we have two different sets of ears - the composer and myself - imagining the music. However, I am always at the service of the composer."
The program will conclude with selections from Prokofiev’s beloved “Romeo and Juliet” ballet score that conjures the drama and intense passions of the world’s most famous love story.
Following the performance, Dean Matthew Loden will host a short post-concert chat with Harth-Bedoya and Leibovic.
Pay-as-you-wish tickets are available from no cost to $40 and are available online at https://music.rice.edu/events/rhythmic-revelry.
The following afternoon, Harth-Bedoya will lead the chamber orchestra in a program spotlighting music that takes its cue from specific times and places. Named after a grand estate in Washington, D.C., “Dumbarton Oaks” blends Stravinsky’s inventive, boundary-pushing sound with a nod to one of the greatest masters of the past, J.S. Bach. “Elegía Andina” celebrates composer and Shepherd School alumna Gabriela Lena Frank ’s multicultural heritage and draws in stylistic elements of Peruvian panpipes. Based on a 17th century French satire about a pompous social climber, Strauss’ “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” fizzes with lively antics and whimsical charm.
“It’s been a joy to work with this group, from the very first seconds of making music together,” Harth-Bedoya said of the Shepherd School musicians.
He said while the technical abilities of the students are outstanding, he’s most impressed by their positive attitudes and spirit of growth when working through the different repertoire at rehearsals.
“I'm really very inspired by them,” he said. “You know, I think I'm learning more from them than the other way around!”
Pay-as-you-wish tickets are available from no cost to $40 and are available online at https://music.rice.edu/events/music-place-time.
Free livestreams for both performances will be available on music.rice.edu.