The Kalamazoo Philharmonia presents its season-opening concert this Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Dalton Theater at Kalamazoo College's Light Fine Arts Building. Music Director Andrew Kohler discusses the program, titled "Honoring Your Elders," with WMUK host Carol Lieurance.
The concert explores how composers draw inspiration from previous generations. Kohler explains that Western classical music constantly engages with tradition, even when composers attempt to break from it. The program features works where this relationship becomes deeply personal, with students honoring their teachers.
The performance opens with Maurice Duruflé's "Three Dances," a luscious 1932 work that deliberately ignored contemporary trends. While his peers embraced jazz influences and modernism, Duruflé remained devoted to earlier French traditions. Kohler credits Philharmonia bassoonist Marco Juarez with discovering this rarely performed gem.
The program continues with Paul Dukas's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," made famous in Disney's "Fantasia." Dukas was Duruflé's teacher, making the pairing particularly meaningful. The piece tells a cautionary tale about an apprentice who misuses magic before his master returns to restore order.
Contemporary composer Andy Akiho honors sculptor Jun Kaneko in "In That Space at That Time," featuring extensive percussion. Akiho, himself a percussionist, created the work in response to Kaneko's monumental ceramic sculptures called dangos.
The concert concludes with William Grant Still's "Afro-American Symphony," which honors African American musical traditions through blues-influenced themes. Still wrote the symphony during the Harlem Renaissance, dedicating it to "those sons of the soil who retain traits peculiar to their African forebears."
Tickets cost $7 general admission and $3 for students, with Kalamazoo College students admitted free.
This interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
