American music highlights Philharmonic’s opening

Marilyn LaRocque

Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

What: The Las Vegas Philharmonic season premiere concert; featuring baritone Kevin Deas.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Where: UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall.

Tickets: $20, $40 and $60.

Information: (702) 895-2787.

A program devoted to 20th-century American music launches Las Vegas Philharmonic's fourth season at 8 p.m. Saturday at Artemus Ham Hall on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus.

"American composers are largely underrated and underplayed," Philharmonic Music Director Harold Weller said. "There's a wealth of American symphonic music that deserves to be heard."

Baritone Kevin Deas will be soloist with the orchestra in Aaron Copland's "Old American Songs," two sets of songs Copland introduced in 1950 to 1952. Copland based his compositions on 19th-century folk songs, spirituals and minstrel tunes. They range from political satire to the Shaker hymn tune "Simple Gifts," which Copland included in his ballet "Appalachian Spring."

"People will be familiar with many of the songs once they hear them," Weller said. " 'At the River' reflects an old spiritual and has broad, long vocal lines. It's very beautiful. 'I Got me a Cat' is a complete contrast. The singer and orchestra imitate various animals. It's a lot of fun."

Deas performed Beethoven's "Ninth" with the Las Vegas Philharmonic in May 2001. He is known for his interpretation of Porgy in George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," with Bobby McFerrin conducting the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and with orchestras from San Francisco to New York to Israel.

He has sung sacred works, including Mozart's "Requiem" and Handel's "Messiah," and has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and with major orchestras around the world. He was also lead singer with "Riverdance."

Michael Torke was only 35 when he wrote "Javelin," the piece which opens the concert. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra commissioned the brief "overture" for the Olympic Games held in Atlanta in 1996. It's estimated that an audience of three billion people worldwide heard and saw its premiere on television.

"Torke really knows how to handle an orchestra," Weller said. "His orchestration is brilliant. He understands what an instrument is capable of and really stretches its boundaries."

Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings, Op. 11," was originally the slow movement of a string quartet, then it was arranged for a string orchestra, premiered by Toscannini and the NBC Symphony. It has deep, profound emotion, both melancholy and soaring. It has often been played at times of national tragedy, including the funerals of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Howard Hanson's three-movement "Symphony No. 2 (Romantic)" concludes the program.

"This is a romantic, melodic, very accessible work that's easy to understand and enjoy at first hearing," Weller said. "Hanson wrote it while he was on staff at the Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan, and the theme that occurs in all three movements has become the signature tune that closes ensemble concerts at Interlochen."

Philharmonic Board President Richard Plaster has high praise for Weller and the Philharmonic.

"Hal is the heart of this orchestra," he stated. "His ability to create a schedule of music, inspire musicians to perform at their potential, and charm an audience is what has helped the orchestra to accomplish so much in only four years.

"We've had a quantum leap in our season subscription ticket sales," he said. "We're literally hundreds of tickets ahead of last year at this time. This speaks to how well the community has accepted Hal, the orchestra and their performances. People who attended last year not only loved what they heard and saw but apparently have been talking it up with friends and neighbors.

"The Las Vegas Philharmonic has no angels," Plaster emphasized. "We are a broad-based organization. It is community willingness to attend and to contribute financially to the support of the orchestra that will allow us to expand the schedule."