In Sarasota Orchestra's Concert Companion to Masterworks: Grand Treasures (April 4-6, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall), we dig into a deep question about orchestral music: Art museum or living art form? Well, what if it's both?! Principal Keyboardist Jonathan Spivey masterfully guides us through Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, to be performed by Jon Kimura Parker in this concert. In highlighting Sarasota Orchestra’s co-commission of Horizons by Peter Boyer, we learn how orchestras become active participants in presenting contemporary compositions and whether an orchestra leaves fingerprints when new works are born. On the flip side of the coin, we ponder what makes a canonical composition a “masterwork” and discuss the orchestra’s vital importance in keeping these treasures from getting buried in the sands of time. How do orchestras and conductors make centuries-old music feel vital, relevant, and timeless, inspiring generations of repeat listens?

Tickets available at SarasotaOrchestra.org!

Music in this episode:

Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms

Czech National Symphony Orchestra

Piano Concerto No. 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven

Drew Petersen, piano

Marcelo Lehninger, conductor

Sarasota Orchestra

Recorded live at the Sarasota Opera House, September 28, 2019