Above: Zuill Bailey (Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco)
By David Whitehill, ASO Executive Director
Internationally renowned cellist Zuill Bailey returns to Thomas Wolfe Auditorium on Saturday, May 14, to perform a piece written specifically for him as the Asheville Symphony Orchestra closes its 55th season.
Bailey, who last appeared with the Asheville Symphony in September 2009, joins the ASO for the 8 p.m. concert under the direction of ASO Music Director and Conductor Daniel Meyer. He will perform Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway, a new work that the ASO co-commissioned for Bailey with a consortium of other orchestras across the country.
“Based on the fascinating life of the great American author, this new cello concerto will most certainly display Zuill’s superb technique and his innate flair for the dramatic,” says Daniel. “The final movement, titled ‘The Sun Also Rises,’ artfully evokes Spain and its famed matadors as the soloist strums his instrument like a guitar.”
Bailey has performed with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Nashville, Toronto, Israel, Cape Town, and the Bruchner Orchestra in Linz, Austria, and has collaborated with conductors Itzhak Perlman, Alan Gilbert, and others.
The ASO closes its season with Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” a piece inspired by the composer’s life and activity in America.
“Dvorák pointed the way to the future of American music by insisting that composers tap into America’s rich Native American and African American cultures,” says Meyer. “His own example, Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World,’ did just that, incorporating spiritualtinged melodies, The Song of Hiawatha, and an exuberant finale that sweeps you away with its bold confidence.”
Single tickets for all concerts are $22–62, depending on seating section (reduced youth pricing is available). Single tickets and season ticket packages can be purchased online at ashevillesymphony.org, by calling 828.254.7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.
