Idaho State-Civic Symphony to open ‘A Storied Season’ with ‘Americana Stories’ on Sept. 20

POCATELLO – The Idaho State-Civic Symphony will open its 2019-2020 “Storied Season” on Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Idaho State University Jensen Grand Concert Hall in the Stephens Performing Arts Center.

There is also a pre-concert "Symphony Tailgate" beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The concert’s program,  “Americana Stories,” will feature composers inspired by the American experience, and celebrating the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

This concert features the trailblazing Florence Price's “Symphony 
No. 3,” a piece that was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Music Project during the height of the Great Depression. Price was the first African-Amerian woman to have a piece performed by a major American orchestra. 

The program also features Grant Still’s “Afro-American Symphony,” the first symphony written by an African-American man that was performed by an orchestra. Still’s and Florence Price’s legacies are remarkable “both for the barriers they broke and the inventive works they wrote.”

Also on the program is the world premiere of “Transcend” by composer Zhou Tian, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. This piece was commissioned by 13 American orchestras — located along the route of the Railroad — that have premiered this new work across the country. The Grammy-nominated Chinese-American composer wanted to capture the “contribution of thousands of strong Chinese and Irish work[ers] who toiled in severe weather and cruel conditions. . . and who perished” in the process. The piece also celebrates “those who stayed [and] brought traditional art and music into the fabric of American culture.”

Tickets are $13-$40 and are available online at  www.thesymphony.us or by calling the ISU Box Office at (208) 282-3595.

Audience members are also invited to kick off the symphony’s new season with a pre-concert “Symphony Tailgate” at 5:30 p.m. in the foyer of the Stephens Performing Arts Center. Participants can join all the symphony’s “super-fans” for a barbeque, live music by Red Hill Junction Jazz and cheer on the orchestra before the concert. “Symphony Tailgate” tickets are $25. Reservations must be made in advance through the symphony office at 208-234-1587 or www.thesymphony.us.