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Butler’s centennial includes ‘Impressions’ concert
IF YOU GO
What: “Impressions at the Butler” concert with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra
When: 8 p.m. July 27
Where: Butler North Building’s Great Hall, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown
Tickets: $20 at butlerart.com, by phone at 234-228-8555 and at the museum (Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
The Butler Institute of American Art’s centennial celebration year will take a musical turn.
On July 27, the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra will perform “Impressions at the Butler” in the Butler North Building. The concert will start at 8 p.m. in the Great Hall.
“Impressions” is a suite of music by acclaimed Hollywood composer Gregory Prechel. It got its premiere in 2009 by the YSO at Powers Auditorium.
The orchestra commissioned Prechel to write the piece, and it is believed to be the orchestra’s first musical commission. It was also the first time the Butler’s works were set to music. It has not been performed locally since its premiere.
The goal of the composition was to create an audio complement to the great artworks in the Butler’s collection.
Prechel, of California, spent several days at the Butler, absorbing the artwork, before writing the piece. Louis A. Zona, museum director and curator, showed him the collection and explained its signature pieces, including “Snap the Whip,” “Lincoln the Railsplitter” and “Bridal Veil Falls.”
“I started writing themes on the pieces that struck me the most,” Prechel told The Vindicator at the time. “Then I realized I had way too much material. The challenge was to select which ones to use. I ended up with eight movements for the 25-minute composition.”
Zona attended that 2009 performance and remembers the reaction it received.
“Everybody was so impressed with how [Prechel] captured the nature of the works of art. If the art had a Western theme, the music had a Western aspect to what. If it was a classical portrait, he reached back in time to create a sound that was appropriate to that work of art. We we’re very impressed.”
Those who attend the upcoming “Impressions” concert will not only get a rare chance to hear the artful piece, but will do so in a unique setting.
The Butler North building – a former church – has seating for just 340 people, making it an intimate but glorious venue with a soaring ceiling.
“People will hear the orchestra in a different light,” said Zona, who noted that YSO conductor-music director Randall Craig Fleischer gave the room a walk-through and was pleased with its acoustics. The stage is large enough for 30 musicians.
Fleischer said that the concert program will begin with Bernstein’s “Candide Overture,” followed by Gershwin’s “American in Paris.” Prechel’s “Impressions” will close the concert.
Fleischer spearheaded the effort to commission the piece.
“I love the Butler and think it’s one of the jewels of Youngstown,” he told The Vindicator in a 2009 interview. “There’s a really famous piece in the symphonic repertoire titled ‘Pictures at an Exhibition,’ so I thought it would be cool for the YSO to create a new ‘Pictures,’ shining a musical light on the wonderful collection at the Butler.”
Selecting Prechel wasn’t a hard decision for Fleischer, who had collaborated with the composer in the past.
In addition to the July 27 concert, the Butler is also planning a gala event in October to celebrate its centennial year.