PATRICIA C. SYAK | Symphony Notes American composers kick off Masterworks

The Youngstown Symphony Society kicks off the Orchestra's Masterworks and Pops season and presents two attractions beginning Oct. 18 at Powers Auditorium.
The YSO John S. and Doris Andrews Masterworks Series with conductor Isaiah Jackson opens Oct. 18 with an all-American program featuring the music of Gershwin, Copland and Bernstein.
George Gershwin outgrew being a song salesman to become box-office magic in musical theater and film. The consensus among editorial writers and music critics at his untimely death in 1937 was that Gershwin would survive through his popular songs, but his serious efforts would be consigned to oblivion.
When early in 1924 band leader Paul Whitman decided to go symphonic in a grand style, he approached Gershwin, suggesting the composer write a concert work for his jazz band. In three weeks, the score for "Rhapsody in Blue" was ready for Whitman's arranger Ferde Grofe to orchestrate. "Rhapsody in Blue" was given its premiere by the Whitman Orchestra with Gershwin as soloist February 24, 1924. Gershwin's first attempt at serious music was a smashing success and guaranteed that the serious Gershwin would not fall by the wayside as predicted.
The soloist for "Rhapsody in Blue" is Pittsburgh Symphony principal pianist Patricia Jennings.
Aaron Copland
As with Gershwin, there was nothing in Aaron Copland's background to suggest he might become a composer, let alone one of the best-known and most highly respected American composers.
Copland is represented in the opening concert by his "Billy the Kid" Suite, adapted from his ballet of the same name. Copland had a unique ability to portray a visual image through his music. In his "Billy the Kid" score, Copland uses familiar folk songs to portray the life of the notorious outlaw.
Through the music, audiences are drawn to the dusty frontier town where 12-year-old Billy saunters down the street with his mother. A drunken brawl erupts, guns are drawn, and Billy's mother falls victim to a bullet. Copland's music takes the listener along as Billy launches his infamous career to avenge his mother's death until the moment Billy meets his own end at the hands of Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett.
The concert, underwritten in part by the Youngstown Symphony Guild, concludes with Leonard Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances" from his perennial "West Side Story."
Guest vocalist
Tenor Craig Schulman joins the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and conductor Isaiah Jackson for the opening John W. and Dorothy B. Ford Pops Series Saturday, Nov. 1, at Powers Auditorium beginning at 8 p.m.
Just in time for Halloween and a treat for the whole family, "Heroes, Monsters and Madmen" promises to be a tour of Broadway's tour-de-force roles. Concert attendees are invited to come in costume as their favorite hero, monster or madman. Costume judging sponsored by Clear Channel radio stations will begin at 7 p.m. in the Symphony Center Grand Lobby.
The heroes of the concert program are represented by songs from "Man of La Mancha," "Les Miserables," "Carousel," "Camelot" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel." The monsters will include "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast," and the madman, "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Secret Garden." Along the way, there will be a couple of characters that defy definition, like Sky Masterson from "Guys and Dolls" and even a combination in the persons of "Jekyll & amp; Hyde."
Craig Schulman, no stranger to the YSO stage, is widely recognized as one of the premier talents from the worlds of Broadway and Symphony Pops. He is the only actor in the world to have portrayed all of the following: the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" and the title roles in "Jekyll & amp; Hyde."
Tickets for "Heroes, Monsters and Madmen," sponsored in part by Home Savings and Loan Company, and other YSO concerts and attractions are available by calling the Symphony Center box office at (330) 744-0264 or visiting www.youngstownsymphony.com.
Other events
Continuing the early autumn sweep will be the smash hit "Stomp" Oct. 21 and 22 and "Mandy Patinkin in Concert" Oct. 25. Both attractions begin at 8 p.m. at Powers Auditorium.
The eight-member "Stomp" troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments to fill the stage with compelling and infectious rhythms. Stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra, cigarette lighters flip open and closed to create a fiery fugue, and wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion.
"Stomp" is a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy for today's audience. The technique has roots dating to street performers of the Middle Ages known as buskers, who would erect booth theaters at village fairs to grab people's attention. "Stomp" has updated this historical custom and created a modern, explosive, provocative show that has captured the attention of audiences around the world.
Broadway Tony winner and television Emmy winner Mandy Patinkin makes his first Youngstown appearance Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. at Powers Auditorium. Patinkin's concert career began 10 years ago at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre in New York City, which coincided with the release of his first solo album, titled "Mandy Patinkin." Since then, Patinkin has toured extensively with pianist Paul Ford, performing songs by such masters as Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Randy Newman, Adam Guettel and Harry Chapin.
Patinkin won a Tony Award for his Broadway debut as Che in Lloyd Webber's "Evita" and after that appeared in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Sunday in the Park With George," "The Secret Garden" and "Falsettos." In 1995, Mandy Patinkin won an Emmy for his role as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in "Chicago Hope." He is starring in the Showtime series "Dead Like Me." "Mandy Patinkin in Concert" is underwritten in part by the Parker Hannifin Corporation.
XPatricia C. Syak is executive director of the Youngstown Symphony Society.