Music has a way of reflecting what is happening in the world. From the songs of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell to the rock and pop of modern day
The Ithaca Community Orchestra creates this connection between people and events in their program “Music of Our Time.”
“I tend to think of pieces before I think of themes for our performances,” said Music Director Aaron Burgess. “And I found that the three works we selected for this concert seem to all speak to the turbulent time that we're living in today, in our country, in our world.”
The orchestra will be performing three pieces: Catherine Likhuta’s Through Healer’s Eyes, Aaron Copland’s Down a Country Lane, and Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major.
“Some of the pieces speak to it in a very direct way, such as Cathy Likhuta’s peace, which is a work that was directly inspired by the work of a World War I and World War II era nurse in the Australian nursing service,” said Burgess. “So that one is pretty obviously tied to wartime. Cathy's grandmother was a Ukrainian War era nurse as well, so that is a very real connection to our time particularly with the conflict in the Ukraine.
Some of the other works are a little bit more contemplative, reflective in their nature. And it all seemed to kind of come together in a way that spoke to a period of time that we are currently living in. That is both troubled, and yet somehow there's still optimism for the future.”
Burgess even has a special connection to Likhuta herself. “I've known Cathy for a number of years and our connection began right here in the city of Ithaca.
Although Cathy is Ukrainian born, she's lived mostly her entire life, to my knowledge, in Australia. But she has been to the states countless times throughout her life and she's studied here in Ithaca with a number of our composers that live in the area. And if she were here, she would say that Ithaca is her second home.”
The Ithaca Community Orchestra presents “Music of Our Time” at 2pm on Saturday May 11th at Ford Hall on the Ithaca College campus.
Watch the full interview with Bill Snyder below:
