Conductor Jayce Ogren leads subscription weeks this season in debut performances with the Columbus, Louisville, and Asheville Symphonies, and in a return performance with the Edmonton Symphony in straight-ahead classical repertoire ranging from Mendelssohn and Beethoven to Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Copland.
Last month Ogren led the Louisville Symphony in concerts of the rarely heard Berwald’s Estrella de Soria Overture, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7 (a premiere in Louisville! And one of Jayce’s favorite party pieces), and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Cto. in D.
“When I suggested Sibelius’s Symphony 7 for my program with the Louisville Orchestra, I couldn’t believe that I’d be conducting the first performances in their history. It’s an incredibly important piece to me, and moves me in ways I can’t quite explain. It was so rewarding to talk with the musicians throughout the week about how much they enjoyed discovering this 22 minute masterpiece. Our first concert was cancelled because of an ice storm, so with only one opportunity to perform the Sibelius, they gave it their absolute all! It was a wonderful week with an excellent orchestra.” – Jayce Ogren
Listen to this recent radio interview with Jayce Ogren and violinist Gabe Lefkowitz on 90.5 WUOL Classical Louisville, below.
Next week, Jayce returns to the Edmonton Symphony to lead a double header: two nights of Copland’s Orchestral Variations, Korngold’s Violin Concerto, Sibelius’s Valse Triste and Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite; and a third night of vocal works by Mozart, Offenbach, Verdi, and Bernstein – along with Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Schubert’s Symphony No. 5.
Coming up Ogren leads the Columbus Symphony in Beethoven Symphony No. 1, Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3; and the Asheville Symphony in John Adams’ The Chairman Dances, de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Joyce Yang, and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2.
He finishes up the season with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, leading the remastered film of Bernstein’s West Side Story with live orchestra.