Folsom Lake Symphony's 21st season opens Oct. 12

The Folsom Lake Symphony and Maestro Peter Jaffe begin their 21st season with music from two composers responsible for some of America's most symphonic melodies – Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony and George Gershwin's "Piano Concerto in F. The concert, at the Harris Center for the Arts, is on Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m., with pianist Gabriela Martinez as the guest soloist. Under the banner of "New World," the evening opens with Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, which premiered Dec. 3, 1925, in New York's Carnegie Hall with Gershwin at the piano. Following the success of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which was orchestrated by Ferde Grofe, Gershwin wanted to orchestrate his own concerto and spent several months studying orchestration and getting feedback from other talented arrangers and orchestrators. Many people thought the Rhapsody was only a happy accident, but according to Gershwin, "I went out to show them that there was plenty more where that had come from." The Concerto in F is a work dominated by rhythm, mood and atmosphere and a perfect vehicle for Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez, who has a reputation for the lyricism of her playing, compelling interpretations and elegant stage presence. She's performed with the San Francisco, Chicago and Houston symphonies and was the first-prize winner of the Anton G. Rubenstein International Piano Competition in Dresden, and a semifinalist at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony is an anthem to American roots. A celebrated Czechoslovakian composer, Dvorak arrived in New York in 1892, an immigrant thrown into a new world and new sounds. In interviews with New York newspapers before the premiere, he said, "The music of Native Americans and Black people would be the real source of folk music on which to base an American national style." The symphony's popularity has endured and is remarkable for the sheer number of memorable tunes, many of them the kind you hum going home from the concert. Tickets for the "New World" concert on Oct. 12 are available on the symphony's website, www.folsomlakesymphony.com, by phone at 916-608-6888 or at the ticket office on the Folsom Lake College campus, 10 College Parkway. The Folsom Lake Symphony is the Resident Orchestra at the Harris Center for the Arts.