Kalena Bovell, photo courtesy of the artist.
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates female conductors and composers in classical music in March. Two upcoming concerts will feature female conductors with an impressive repertoire.
Unlike Lydia Tár, the fictional, abusive, narcissistic maestro who bullies her students and exploits her employees, the two conductors, Rei Hotoda and Kalena Bovell, are very different.
Rei Hotoda. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
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Japanese-American conductor Rei Hotoda is music director of the Fresno Philharmonic. Hotoda has been hailed as an inexhaustible dynamo deeply committed to reinventing the 21st century concert experience. Her thought-provoking programming will be highlighted in her Louisiana Philharmonic debut on March 16, 2023, which will include works by Zhou Long, Grażyna Bacewicz and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Zhou Long is a Chinese-American composer who won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music. In July 2017, the National Youth Orchestra of China, conducted by Ludovic Morlot, performed to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall.
Polish composer and violinist Grażyna Bacewicz has received national and international recognition. Bacewicz Concerto for String Orchestra was composed in 1948 and won the Polish State Prize in 1950.
Russian composer Rimsky Korsakov is a master of orchestration. composed in 1888, Scheherazade based on Thousand and one Night. and is an exciting piece of music that demonstrates the expertise of the orchestra.
Kalena Bovell. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell is in great demand as a guest conductor. She is currently Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony. Bovell has conducted numerous orchestras including at the BBC Proms and with the Louisville Orchestra.
Bovell’s program, performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, opens with that of Danish composer Carl Nielsen Helios Overturecomposed in 1902, is Nielsen’s most frequently performed work.
“The Four Sea Interludes” are excerpts from the opera Peter Grime by British composer Benjamin Britten. Peter Grimm focuses on the sea and the townspeople of a remote small fishing village. There are six interludes in the opera to facilitate scene changes, and four of these have been extracted as an orchestral suite.
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The great Finnish composer Sibelius completed his Second Symphony in 1902. Sibelius said: “My second symphony is a confession of the soul.” It is without a doubt my favorite Sibelius symphony.
Rei Hotoda conducts the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra on March 16, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater. From 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. there will be a pre-concert lecture, the concert starts at 7:30 p.m
Kalena Bovell conducts on March 30, 2023 at 6 p.m. in the Orpheum Theater. From 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. there will be a pre-concert lecture, the concert starts at 7:30 p.m
The Orpheum Theater is located at 129 Roosevelt Way, New Orleans.
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