(Viranel Clerard | Detroit Music Magazine)
Next weekend will be one of many firsts for Maestro Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), as the conductor and music director will lead the world premiere of his own Endgames and the Detroit premiere of his wife Cindy McTee’s Solstice featuring DSO Principal Trombonist Kenneth Thompkins.
The concerts will take place at Orchestra Hall and will also include Benjamin Lees’ Concerto with a DSO string quartet — a piece that was first performed under Slatkin’s direction by the St. Louis Symphony — as well as George Gershwin’s An American in Paris, the work which lends the series its title, Gershwin in Paris.
Endgames is Maestro Slatkin’s first-ever composition, which he dedicated to any musician who’s ever chosen to play one of the outsider woodwind instruments, which Slatkin says are often underrepresented in a solo role. DSO soloists featured in the work include Jeffery Zook, piccolo; Sharon Sparrow, alto flute; Monica Fosnaugh, English horn; Larry Lieberson, e-flat clarinet; Shannon Orme, bass clarinet; and Marcus Schoon, contrabassoon.
Attendees are also invited to a pre-show presentation one hour prior to the Thursday and Saturday performances of Gershwin in Paris to learn more about how Solstice got its name and what inspired Cindy McTee when composing the work. McTee will be joined by Michelle Merrill, who will discuss her own background and first impressions of the piece as Assistant Conductor of the DSO.
Gershwin in Paris takes place at Orchestra Hall on Thursday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, November 21 at 10:45 a.m., and Saturday, November 22 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here. The concert will also be webcast worldwide via the DSO’s “Live from Orchestra Hall” series during the Friday performance. It can be viewed by logging on to dso.org/live or by downloading the free DSO to Go mobile app.