UNLSO opens season, including world premiere of Simon’s piece
calendar icon26 Sep 2019
LINCOLN, Neb.— The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music’s Symphony Orchestra will make its season debut on Sunday, October 6 at 3 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall.
Pieces to be performed in the season opener include: Dukas: Fanfare for La Péri; University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music’s Greg Simon: Promise Me You Won’t Believe A Single Word in a WORLD PREMIERE; Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 (GKSOM’s Alan Mattingly, horn) and Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor.
“Promise Me You Won’t Believe A Single Word” is a line spoken by a character in The Faery Handbag, a short story by my favorite author, Kelly Link, according to Simon.
“The story is about a granddaughter’s relationship with her enigmatic grandmother, and her desire to explore the truth behind some of the grandmother’s fantastical stories,” he said. “I was re-reading the story around the time that my own grandmother (who we affectionately called Kela) fell ill; she passed away while I was writing this piece. “Promise” is, in equal parts, a fantasy on the themes of Link’s story and a work in memory of Kela, reflecting on my feelings after losing her.”
Simon began “Promise Me You Won’t Believe A Single Word” in September of 2019, and it was completed in May 2019.
“’Promise’ is (in my estimation) an emotional exploration of the relationship between story and truth, especially in those stories we hear from those we love,” Simon said. “It’s at turns a bedtime story, a joke, an argument, a goodbye. A single theme, which represents truth, evolves and contorts as various forms of half-truth are explored, including riddles, lies, and questions. Only at the end of the work is the full truth melody revealed in its authentic form, in an emotional statement of love.
“The most important goal I have as a composer is to create moments in which listeners can see in myself, my work, and the rest of the audience something in common with themselves. Everyone has faced, or will face loss; everyone has come to know their loved ones better through stories, and I can only imagine that, like me, everyone has wondered where the line in those stories is between truth and fiction. As a composer it is my privilege to have an expressive language with which I can sort through difficult emotions, and my hope is that by sharing that expression with others, the ultimate effect will be to heal, comfort, and bring together members of the audience.”
Members of the Symphony Orchestra include students from throughout the university. The ensemble’s objectives are to prepare and present a wide variety of repertoire including chamber, symphonic, and operatic masterworks, and to maintain professional standards of musicianship and etiquette within a collegial and supportive educational atmosphere. The Symphony Orchestra is one of the Glenn Korff School of Music’s most active performing organizations, presenting concerts both on and off campus throughout the academic year.
Tickets are Adults $5; Students/Seniors $3 at the door. The performance will also be live webcast. Visit music.unl.edu the night of the performance for the direct link.