The Blue Ridge Orchestra (BRO), led by music director Milton Crotts, ends its season with performances of Mozartissimo on Mother’s Day weekend. As part of the Asheville Amadeus Festival, the program will be presented on Saturday, May 13, at 3 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium, and on Sunday, May 14, at 3 p.m. in the Diana Wortham Theatre of the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.
“We found the opportunity to meld the Festival’s 2023 theme of Americana with a celebration of Mozart’s music simply irresistible,” says BRO president Deb Kenney.
The program begins with Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat for Violin (Rachel Handman), Viola (Emily Schaad) and Orchestra, some of the last and possibly best music the composer wrote before leaving Salzburg for Vienna at age 25. Schaad will double as guest conductor on this opener. In keeping with the Americana theme, the second half of the program features the BRO performing classic works by American composers Aaron Copland, Morton Gould and Meredith Willson.
“Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola and Copland’s Appalachian Spring are both scored for small orchestral ensembles, and both explore and expand the boundaries of the music of their times with rich, uplifting melodies,” says Crotts. “These iconic works are offset by Morton Gould’s exhilarating American Salute and selections from Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, a classic portrayal of small-town America to complete an upbeat program that is sure to invigorate concert-goers of all ages.”
Mozartissimo brings together two very different styles of fine music not often paired in a single event, performed by the BRO’s volunteer musicians from all walks of life. These concerts provide engaging musical experiences and a catalyst for human connection for all who love Mozart and Americana.
Tickets to each performance are $20 general admission, $15 Friends of the BRO, $5 students and free for ages six and under. Learn more at BlueRidgeOrchestra.org, Facebook, Instagram or by calling 828.782.3354.
