Redlands Symphony Presents Works by Bach, Dvorak, Barber, and Poulenc

The Redlands Symphony will perform POULENC’s Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings with internationally renowned organist Frederick Swann playing the remarkable Casavant Organ in Memorial Chapel on the campus of the University of Redlands on Saturday, March 22, 2014. Maestro Jon Robertson will conduct. The concert begins at 8 PM. Doors open at 7 PM. Maestro Robertson will lead a pre-concert discussion about the evening’s program that will begin at 7:15 PM. “I am elated that Frederick Swann has agreed to perform the Poulenc with our Redlands Symphony Orchestra,” says Robertson, “Putting this wonderful organ in the hands of a master like Fred Swann becomes something close to divine. This will be an evening that our audience will remember for a long time.” The March program will also include J.S. BACH’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the Serenade in E major by DVORAK and BARBER’s Capricorn Concerto. Mr. Swann has performed nearly 3,000 recitals in major churches and concert halls throughout the United States, Austria, Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Korea, and Russia. He is the recipient of numerous awards in performance. In 2004, he was selected by the Los Angeles Philharmonic to perform the inaugural solo organ recital on the spectacular new organ in The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Prior to that, he played the inaugural recitals on the organs in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall and Davies Hall in San Francisco. In June of 2008, Mr. Swann performed two Preview Recitals on the William J. Gillepsie Concert Organ in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. His most recent (and final) recording, on the Casavant organ in Memorial Chapel at the University of Redlands was released by Gothic Records in January 2010. Although officially “retired”, Mr. Swann continues to perform on a reduced schedule of solo recitals and in concert with orchestras and choral groups. One reviewer noted that in his 65-year career, Mr. Swann has probably presided over more ranks of pipes and stop knobs than any other organist in history. This is perhaps true, given the size and prominence of the instruments with which his career has been notably associate including Riverside Church in New York City (1957-1982), The Crystal Cathedral (1982-1998), and First Congregational Church of Los Angeles (1998-2001). “Of the several works for organ and orchestra, I think the Poulenc is perhaps the most enjoyable to perform because of the almost constant interplay between the orchestra and the organ. I can’t think of another work that has such immediate and strong appeal to the audience,” Mr. Swann explained. Single tickets to the Redlands Symphony start at $15.