The Henderson Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is proud to present Resilience at UNLV’s Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall on February 22 at 7:30 p.m.
The concert will feature Jean Sibelius’ “Finlandia,” as well as Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 which will be performed by guest soloist De Ann Letourneau.
“We are so excited to have De Ann Letourneau perform the beautiful solo of Shostakovich’s first violin concerto,” said Henderson Symphony Orchestra’s music director Alexandra Arrieche. “We love having De Ann back performing with us. She is an icon in the local arts community, as she is the concertmaster of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and one of the few female concertmasters in the U.S.”
“Finlandia” is a nationalist piece written by Sibelius as a reaction to severe censorship towards artists in Russia. The piece was performed under different names to pass the censorship. It evokes the struggles of Finnish people at that time, contrasting rough and violent music gestures with traditional melodies.
Shostakovich started working on his violin concerto around the Zhdanov Doctrine, which was a form of censorship in the Soviet Union at that time. All artists needed to follow the rules established by the government, otherwise they would risk prosecution.
The Henderson Symphony Orchestra will offer two more free concerts this season including its Young Artists Concert, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon, and Imagine, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. at The Dollar Loan Center.
For more information, please visit https://www.hendersonsymphonynv.org
