UPCOMING CONCERT! Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 2 pm!

Our symphony concerts are held Sunday afternoons at Chimacum School Auditorium (91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum). There are OPEN DRESS REHEARSALS at 7 pm the Friday evening before each Sunday concert – also at Chimacum School Auditorium.

PTSO concerts are free to attend (but not free to produce). Donations are always gratefully accepted at the door. Tigran Arakelyan, Conductor and Artistic Director.

THIS CONCERT FEATURES Seattle-based percussionist/bandoneonist/composer BEN THOMAS. Ben started playing bandoneon in 2006, traveling to Argentina and working with tango musicians from across the world. He tours regularly with the Atlas Tango Project and can be heard on their most recent album, “Estaciones y Sueños”. He was a guest artist with the Eugene Opera in 2018 as the bandoneon soloist for Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires”. Thomas has released five albums of original music on Origin Records, spanning jazz, chamber music, and tango. His music explores both traditional tango and how it continues to grow as it encounters new times and new influences. Following the lead of some of the pioneers of the current scene in Buenos Aires, such as Diego Schissi and Exequiel Mantega, Thomas builds pieces combining rhythmic intensity with lush harmonies, whimsy, and an emphasis on storytelling. He studied mathematics and music at Swarthmore College before going to the University of Michigan for a Master of Music in Contemporary Improvisation and the University of Washington for a DMA in Percussion Performance. Thomas has taught music theory, composition, and performance at Highline College since 2001.

PROGRAM

Antonín Dvorak, Carnival Overture

Florence Price, Dance in the Canebrakes

New piece for bandoneon and orchestra* Premiere with Ben Thomas (soloist and composer)

Jennifer Higdon, Blue Cathedral

Alexander Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia

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