Published: April 12, 2024
UT Symphony Orchestra Concert to Feature World Premiere of Faculty Piece “Triptych”
The University of Tampa Symphony Orchestra will present Explorations, a concert in Fletcher Lounge in Plant Hall, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. The event is free and open to the public.
The University of Tampa Symphony Orchestra will present Explorations, a concert in Fletcher Lounge in Plant Hall. Photo by Marsha Kemp Photography
Under the direction of Megan Maddaleno, assistant professor of music and director of orchestral activities and string studies, the concert will open with the world premiere of “Triptych,” composed by Bradford Blackburn, associate professor of music and director of music technology and composition. In addition to a traditional orchestra, “Triptych,” was written to be accompanied by digital instrumentation played on a computer.
“These two worlds are blended and intertwined with one another throughout the piece,” said Blackburn. “They are fused into a rich palette of 21st century electroacoustic orchestra sounds, layered with each other through the complexity of neo-baroque counterpoint, and set in motion with energetic, post-minimalist textures.”
Following “Triptych” will be Serge Koussevitzky’s 1904 work “Double Bass Concerto,” which will be performed by local high school senior Collin LeBlanc, who won the junior division of UT’s concerto and aria competition in December. Next, Brianna Davies, graduating senior and winner of the senior division of the concerto and aria competition, will perform Samuel Barber’s aria “Must the Winter Come So Soon?” from his 1958 opera, Vanessa. The closing piece will be “Hebrides Overture,” completed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1833.
Maddaleno said the orchestra’s final concert of the academic year will feature “an adventurous program, from sailing the stormy seas of Scotland in Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture,’ to exploring new music through the world premiere of ‘Triptych.’”
