The Western Michigan University Symphony Orchestra will give an all-Dvorak concert Sunday, Nov 9 at 3 pm in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. Music director Bruce Uchimura and graduate student Josh Zallar joined Cara Lieurance for a preview.
For tickets and more information, visit the Irving S. Gilmore School of Music website.
The Western Michigan University Symphony Orchestra presents an all-Dvořák concert Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall, featuring the Slavonic Dances Nos 1 and 2 Op 46 and the Symphony No. 8.
"If you want to hear the folk element in classical music, go to this guy," music director Bruce Uchimura tells Cara Lieurance, noting that Dvořák's Slavonic Dances are original compositions inspired by folk melodies, unlike Brahms' Hungarian Dances, which transcribe actual folk tunes.
Graduate student Josh Zaller conducts the opening Slavonic Dances from Opus 46. A former public school orchestra teacher from Milwaukee who taught at Jenison schools and Calvin University, Zaller now studies musicology at WMU while serving as the Kids in Tune program director for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.
The concert's centerpiece is Dvořák's Symphony No. 8, composed during the summer of 1889.Uchimura calls it "pure Czech," reflecting Dvořák's inspiration from nature and heritage. The second movement evokes birdsong, while the third movement features a sentimental waltz with a folk-influenced trio.
Uchimura emphasizes Dvořák's distinctive orchestration style, explaining that well-orchestrated music makes a conductor's job easier. He advocates a minimalist conducting approach that empowers musicians rather than micromanaging them.
Zaller shares this philosophy, saying the best orchestral playing happens "when we're all playing chamber music together—60 people, 70 people."
Tickets cost $18 in advance ($14 for seniors, $6 for students, faculty, and staff) and are available at wmich.edu/music/events or at the door.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
