USC’s Thornton Chamber Orchestra will present an evening concert tonight at Bovard Auditorium at 7:30 p.m., with admission free to all.
The concert will feature guest conductor, founder and artistic director of Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra Jeri Lynne Johnson — the first Black woman to conduct a concert at the Thornton School of Music.
The concert features Jessie Montgomery’s “Source Code,” Maurice Revel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.
The first sketches of “Source Code” started as transcriptions of African American artists during the Civil War era. It is a string-quartet which Johnson composed and has conducted for decades.
“I think [”Source Code”] is pretty much going to be the big difference between other [concerts], because most of the time our repertoire is very standard,” said Richie Francisco, a doctoral musical arts student and trumpet player.
A contemporary piece, “Source Code” contrasts the more traditional repertoire on the setlist.
“We have a Beethoven symphony, which is probably the main event of the concert,” freshman cellist Amy Jong said. “It’s a little bit more playful than the rest of his others.”
“Le Tombeau de Couperin,” or “The Grave of Couperin,” by French composer Maurice Ravel, is transcribed from a suite for solo piano. Rehearsals consisted of call and response, a technique which resembles a back-and-forth conversation between musicians.
“I really love the [piece by] Ravel. During the rehearsals, I learned a lot about coming together as an orchestra, especially in the Ravel and the Jessie Montgomery,” Jong said. “I think [it] was really interesting, because it’s really more about the effect of the sounds, more than like the melodies or anything.”
While the Symphony Orchestra typically features a full stage, the Chamber Orchestra has reduced orchestration across winds, woodwinds, brass and string instruments.
“This one’s going to be smaller and more intimate. And I think being in the small orchestra, like as a cellist, it kind of forces you to be more on top of your music. In a big orchestra, you can hide a little bit,” Jong said.
Though musicians rehearsed together for two weeks, they began practicing individually two to three weeks prior.
“As a wind player, we don’t really have as much as what the strings play,” Francisco said. “They usually have more complicated parts, woodwind players too. I didn’t really have to do a whole lot of preparation for this, just like spots here and there, making sure that some tricky things were sorted out. But the real highlight is going to be the woodwinds and the strings.”
Kyle Shafi, the division manager for the classical performance and composition division, helped string and wind performers through private lessons. He said he hopes audiences will be able to connect with the music being played and stay in the moment.
“It’s really hard to disconnect from things these days. And you know, as you know, with [Instagram] reels and everything, they’re short – so I feel like our attention span gets less and less,” Shafi said. “Sometimes classical music might be a bit long compared to the things that we’re used to these days, but the music that they’re working on is so beautiful, and there’s so much art involved in creating it and then practicing it and making a concert.”
For more information about USC Thornton concerts visit here.