This Saturday, February 27, Sam Houston State University School of Music will hold a Symphony Concert in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center in the David and Grettle Payne Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Each year the orchestra plays one of Beethoven’s symphonies, and this year they will play number eight.
Director of Orchestral Studies Jacob Sustaita will conduct, and the concert will highlight Ludwig Van Beethoven. There will be a quick overture which is about seven minutes long, followed by a concierto, an intermission and then the Beethoven symphony.
Sustaita is confident the audience will enjoy the short but emotion packed concert.
“The audience won’t get a concert that is very long but full of drama, expression and excitement,” Sustaita said.
This is Sustaita’s first time to work with the violin faculty at this level, whose love of the arts will be shown through their romantic solo.
The collaboration between orchestra and solo will create electric chemistry. Typically a concierto consists of one player such as a single piano accompanied by an orchestra, but this show will be different because it will have two violins to accompany the orchestra that will add more intimacy to the concert.
The orchestra is excited to present this to the community, as Beethoven is similar to Mozart in that both are the building blocks for classical musicians to develop their fundamentals, although both are still difficult to play.
Sustaita and the orchestra have been in preparation for the program since the return back to school from winter break. The symphony orchestra is small but geared toward what the pieces require.
The concierto includes a full orchestra of strings such as violins, violas, cellos and double bases.
In the woodwind section there are flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and the brass section includes French horns, trumpets, trombones and tubas. Minor percussion elements will also be present, such as the timpani and auxiliary percussions such as triangles and snare drums.
Sustaita said the orchestra is currently in the middle of a Beethoven cycle.
“Beethoven is the bread and butter of what we do as classical musicians,” Sustaita. “It’s really important to know the symphonies and to play them. All of the symphonies are different and extraordinary in their own way.”
When Beethoven wrote his classical piece in 1812, he was almost completely deaf and yet still managed to compose a lighthearted piece.
“Each symphony makes its own impactful statement, teaches you a lot and says something different,” Sustaita said. “Some of the symphonies are happier, while some of them are tragic in a way showcasing the greatness and madness of Beethoven.”
The ticket prices range from $12-$15 dollars, and students will receive a discount with their ID.