FROM THE PODIUM

Spring in the Lowcountry bursts with warmth, bright colors, lingering sunshine, and the HHSO’s most eagerly anticipated concerts of the season. Still basking in the afterglow of our John Williams Celebration, we are all gearing up for a flurry of performances that build to Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony to close the season.

But before we get there, amazing performances are coming one after the next, beginning with “Bravo Piano!”. The orchestral finale of the festival has two perennial favorites—Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of its premier), that sandwich a wildly bizarre and wonderful Indian Fantasy by Ferruccio Busoni. What’s SUPER cool about the piece is Busoni’s utilization of authentic native American melodies collected by groundbreaking ethnomusicologist Natalie Curtis, to create the piece. Curtis attended the National Conservatory of Music in New York at the time Dvořák was teaching there, and spent the early years of the turn-of-the-century notating and recording (on Edison’s earliest wax cylinders no less) tunes from Hopi and Pueblo tribes in Arizona. She was one of the first to recognize and preserve these musical traditions that within a generation would have been lost forever. Busoni recognized these songs as the essence of American music and composed the piece while touring the USA. Leopold Stokowski conducted the premiere of the Fantasy with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1915.

We continue to celebrate the “Philadelphia Sound” later in March when the HHSO performs Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, premiered by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1941. Philly’s current Principal Horn, Jennifer Montone, will also be featured in the Richard Strauss First Horn Concerto, with guest conductor David Amado. Strauss and Rachmaninoff were brilliant orchestrators, utilizing the full orchestral palate to create works of extraordinary color and richness.

The brilliant American violinist Tessa Lark, returns to the Lowcountry the first week of April to revel in Hispanic musical culture from both sides of the Atlantic. The concert features Piazzolla’s tango-infused Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, that riffs on themes from Vivaldi’s classic set of violin concerti, in a wild and evocative work of sensual passion. The orchestra will also perform the ebullient Symphony in D by J.C. Arriaga, the “Spanish Mozart,” a shooting-star of musical genius, who composed this one symphony before his untimely death at 19. The brooding and vivacious Danzón No.2, by celebrated Mexican composer Arturo Márquez, finishes the program.

And then, there is the mighty Ninth Symphony, Beethoven’s answer to a world that had seemingly gone mad. From the dust and rubble of the Napoleonic Wars, Beethoven crafted his “Kiss to the World” from Schiller’s “Ode To Joy,” in a work that transcends time and place. The expression of brotherhood, peace, harmony and LOVE, could not be more profound—it is a singular masterpiece that resonates as deeply today as it did when it was first presented exactly two centuries ago. Our performances are the ultimate expression of the HHSO’s credo, “inspiring, enriching and unifying the Lowcountry.” Our world-class soloists come to us from the Sherrill Milnes VOICExperience; our chorus includes the exceptional singers from South Carolina’s vaunted HBCU, Claflin University, along with fantastic singers here at home in the HHSOC and, of course, our orchestra musicians bring their artistry from throughout the region, for this extraordinary event.

At the center of it all is the tune that everyone knows: the “Ode to Joy” from the last movement. For any kid starting on any instrument or voice, it’s one of the very first melodies you will learn. Most all of us can easily plunk it out on a piano or whistle it at the drop of a hat. The elegant simplicity with which Beethoven crafted that melody is the essence of its genius. EVERYONE gets it. And yet, it is preceded by three movements of incredible sophistication and culminates with the grandest of grand finales. Beethoven takes us on a richly nuanced journey through the vagaries of the human condition to majestic triumph. And here’s the mind-blowing part: he composed this all while struggling with overwhelming familial dysfunction, profound health issues, and complete and utter deafness. Now THAT is faith. The beauty of this symphony is not only in the sound world and the emotional landscape it creates, but also how it reveals humanity’s profound interconnectedness, giving us ALL the power, strength, and hope to carry on.

—John Morris Russell, Music Director

From the Corner Office

“The Home Stretch?”

Concert seasons have an opening and an end, or do they?  Somewhat arbitrarily, the HHSO, like almost all orchestras, “start” a season in the fall, and end it in the spring or summer. This works financially, as our fiscal year starts July 1 and ends June 30. The Orchestra Series has an organic arc to it that is not dissimilar to a novel. John Morris Russell is famous for likening our concerts and the season to storytelling. This all feels “natural.”

For the staff, the truth is, the concert schedule just carries on, month to month and year to year. While we are looking at three more Orchestra Series concerts in 2023-2024, we are close to buttoning up the 2024-2025 Series and announcing it to subscribers within weeks. Symphony Under The Stars takes place in April and October, but is one more of an opener than the other? And, while the summer months used to provide a respite from performances, we are now presenting bi-weekly free outdoor Jazz concerts over a 3+ month period.

My point is that the HHSO has evolved to be a 12-month musical enterprise, and we’ve greatly expanded to produce offerings seldom presented by symphony orchestras: Jazz In The Park, a pops- and Broadway-themed Supper Club, and a series featuring Gullah Geechee culture. This programming diversity is intended to create a more diversified and broader audience; not just a symphony-centric following, but multiple audiences all drawn by an HHSO that is aspiring to be the “go-to” place for all things musical in the Lowcountry. Talk about a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal)!

We hope you will take full advantage of the many offerings on the horizon: the BravoPiano! festival, the upcoming Orchestra Series concerts, Symphony Under The Stars, the Coastal Home Supper Club, Gullah Cultural Series, and HHIPC Recital Series at SoundWaves. The Chamber Music Institute and Jazz In The Park series are just around the corner in June.

Whatever your musical taste, you’ll find opportunities through the HHSO, this “season” and next!

—Alan Jordan, President and CEO

From the SoundWaves Studio

SoundWaves HHI 2024: Even More SoundWaves!

Early returns are in, and 2024 is turning out to be a banner year at SoundWaves. Each month tops the previous, and this Spring is set to continue the trend, beginning with two sold-out March Coastal Home Supper Club events featuring the music of Fleetwood Mac. Our Supper Club series has grown well-beyond its original once-per-month scope to accommodate back-to-back performances now routinely, and yet with waiting lists to boot. Thank you to everyone who has become a fan of the hottest ticket on Hilton Head Island.

Another hot ticket carrying along the excitement of this dinner and concert format is our Gullah Cultural Series (GCS) at SoundWaves, a thriving community partnership between HHSO, The Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island, Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, and Native Islanders Business and Community Affairs Association (NIBCAA), driven by Lavon Stevens, artistic advisor. This month we celebrate that the Gullah Geechee future is bright with our Tuesday, March 12^th offering, titled Young Entrepreneurs of the Gullah Geechee Culture. You will want to hear from panelists and fifth generation Gullah descendants Jamal Edwards, dancer and choreographer, and Sonya Grant, owner of Gullah T’s N’ Tings. Of the other young Native Island entrepreneurs showcased is musical guest Atlanta-based, Lowcountry native and soulful songstress Latrese Bush, who will perform with GCS house band, The Lavon Stevens Trio. Rounding out the standout young entrepreneurs involved in this show-talk format is our chef for the evening, Wendell Osborne of Food Savvy, LLC, delivering a menu that includes sweet tea brined chicken, blackened mahi, and roasted mushroom. Delicious!

New to SoundWaves beginning March 6 is a weekly art display and sale by Island Originals Market, a local collective of passionate artisans who will show and sell their original artwork in a pop-up format each Wednesday beginning at 3 pm on the Lagoon Road patio of SoundWaves. Media include jewelry, handcrafted coastal art, painted oyster shells, fabric arts, mixed-media, home décor, and sustainable fashion pieces.

Mark your calendar and continue to follow our announcements this Spring with details of more exciting SoundWaves events: violinist/fiddler sensation Tessa Lark returning to perform a Bluegrass show Tuesday, April 9^th, Coastal Home Supper Club events: Sunday, April 14^th, Sunday, May 5^th, and Sunday, June 2^nd; Gullah Cultural Series show-talk events Tuesday, May 7^th and Tuesday, June 4^th, and International Piano Competition recital in April.

Finally, remember, when you are out and about the Island, tell your friends: I’ll see you at SoundWaves!

—Mario Incorvaia, HHSO Chief Operating Officer