SFCM Orchestra featuring Highsmith Winner, Brayden Meng
Not only will this program feature our very own Edwin Outwater, it will also premier the Highsmith Composition, To Decipher Birdsong by student Brayden Meng, on the the Orchestral Stage. This concert will also feature one of the student conductors, Grace Whalen.
Program
Brayden Meng: To Decipher Birdsong (Highsmith Composition)
Jennifer Higdon: blue cathedral
Grace Whalen, conductor
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No . 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100
I. Andante
II. Allegro marcato
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro giocoso
Featured Artists
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Brayden Meng, composer and Highsmith Winner, SFCM '27
About the Highsmith Competition
Every year, SFCM hosts the Highsmith Competition, an internal composition contest that grants the winner a performance of the submitted work by the Conservatory Orchestra.
"The Highsmith Orchestra Composition Prize is in many ways the most important opportunity for our student composers," Composition Department Chair David Conte says. "It represents the mastery of a wide range of specialized knowledge of all the instruments, of orchestration, and of the control of the formal unfolding of complex musical ideas. Historically, many of our most gifted composers have won this prize, and it has enabled them to move forward into the professional world of commissions and college and university positions."
SFCM Orchestra
Composition
Conducting
Edwin Outwater
About the SFCM Orchestra
As a member of the SFCM Orchestra, you’ll experience firsthand the advantages of playing in a large ensemble. You’ll also get a complete overview of orchestral repertoire, and that begins with examining both masterworks and lesser-known pieces of every era. The symphony orchestra has a large repertoire, and each stylistic period deserves attention. Do you take to the classical period works of Mozart and Haydn? The grand romantic works of Brahms and Tchaikovsky? How about the 20th-century masterpieces by Aaron Copland and Benjamin Britten? Add to that more recent works by such luminaries as John Adams and Joan Tower, and collaborations with Opera Theatre, and you’re on your way to becoming the well-rounded, informed musician the performing world expects.
The SFCM Orchestra presents several performances a year that prominently feature student soloists. Participation also includes public orchestral workshops with distinguished guest conductors. Recent guests have included Donald Runnicles, Carl St. Clair, Nicola Luisotti, and Peter Oundjian.
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