Oak Ridge Symphony, Chorus perform Verdi, Shostakovich on Saturday

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The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will turn Saturday night into a magnificent musical evening when the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association presents a program of Verdi, Gorecki, and Shostakovich at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Joining the orchestra for the concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday will be the Oak Ridge Chorus along with the South Doyle High School Chorus for Giuseppe Verdi’s “Stabat Mater” and “Te Deum.”

Symphony conductor Dan Allcott wanted to do a Verdi choral work and chose these works in celebration of Verdi’s 200th birthday year. “The ‘Stabat Mater’ is one of my favorite works by the composer,” Allcott said. “Verdi was a small town boy who had a great work ethic, having composed 30 operas in his lifetime. These particular works were done in his later years.”

Special guest soprano Katy Wolfe Zahn will be the featured soloist for Henryk Gorecki’s Second Movement of his Symphony No. 3, the “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.” Zahn will sing the story of a mother mourning her recently killed son. “It is not sorrow, despair or the wringing of hands,” Gorecki wrote,” It is just the great grief and lament of a woman who has lost her son.”

Finally, the orchestra will present Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 9,” one of his shortest pieces. When the symphony premiered in 1945, the work was an affront to the Soviet leadership. Shostakovich has been quoted as saying: “When my ninth was performed, Stalin was incensed. He was deeply offended because there were no soloist, no chorus, and no apotheosis. There wasn’t even a paltry dedication. It was just music.”

Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for young adults, and $5 for children. They may be purchased from the ORCMA office by calling (865) 483-5569 or visiting www.orcma.org.