by Mike Telin
Since its founding in 1955 by a group of eight musicians, all of whom were high school friends, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra has garnered the reputation of being one of Cleveland’s top-shelf community orchestras. And since turning 70 is always cause for celebration, this weekend the SSO is going to do just that.
On Sunday, March 16 at 2:00 pm at Severance Music Center, Domenico Boyagian will preside over “Seventy at Severance.”
The program opens with Jean Sibelius’ Karelia Suite. For the featured work, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Boyagian and the Orchestra will be joined by the Western Reserve Chorale and West Shore Chorale, and soloists soprano Emily Margevich, mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman, tenor John Pickle, and baritone Young-Kwang Yoo. WCLV’s Bill O’Connell will emcee the event. Tickets are available online.
I caught up with Domenico Boyagian on Zoom.
Mike Telin: 70 years is cause for a celebration. It’s easy to imagine why you programmed Beethoven No. 9, but how did you come to choose the Sibelius?
Domenico Boyagian: It’s a piece that we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Every once in a while we like to feature certain sections of the orchestra. In this case it’s the horns and brass.
When Thomas Adès was commissioned to write a piece for Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic’s “Messages for the Millennium” program, he was asked to compose a “hopeful piece.” But what he delivered was a prophetic work about a country on the verge of crisis.
After taking up the trombone as a nine-year-old, John Faieta went on to carve out a diverse, career as a teacher — he has served on the faculties of Boston University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Berklee College of Music — as well as performing with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, the the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra.
