Main Stage Concert: Dance Suite (San Francisco) February 22, 2013

The stupendous strings of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra bring to life both old and new, assisted by guitar virtuoso Ben Pila and concertmaster Robin Sharp.

The performance begins on a Baroque note as the ensemble illuminates a suite of dances by the master composer J.S. Bach, entitled Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067. The piece is followed by a new work written by Iowa-native and Julliard-graduate Michael Gilbertson, Concerto for Guitar and String Orchestra. The Concerto features rising young guitarist Ben Pila, and it is both an SFCO commission and world premiere. Gilbertson's music has earned four Morton Gould Awards from ASCAP, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the 2007-2008 Palmer-Dixon Prize, awarded by the Juilliard composition faculty for the best student work of the year.

Gilbertson's mentor at the Julliard school, Pulitzer Prize-winner John Corigliano, fashioned the next piece on the lively program: Voyage for Solo Violin and String Orchestra, featuring SFCO concertmaster Robin Sharp, who is a full-time lecturer in violin at Stanford University. Voyage (premiered in 1976) is an instrumental version of a 1971 a cappella choral work also written by Corigliano. Closing out the concert program is the ever-popular Holberg Suite by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Admission is free to all concertgoers! Seating is first come, first served (no tickets). Doors open 45 minutes before concert time. Supporting members receive priority entrance and priority seating. Be sure to join Maestro Ben Simon for an engaging and informative onstage talk 30 minutes before each concert.

J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Michael Gilbertson: Concerto for Guitar & String Orchestra [SFCO Commission & World Premiere]
John Corigliano: Voyage for Solo Violin & String Orchestra
Edvard Grieg: Holberg Suite

Official Website: http://www.sfchamberorchestra.org/events/mainstage/