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The Hays Symphony will be combining with FHSU choirs for its spring finale concert on Saturday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center. The concert, themed “Tragedy and Triumph,” celebrates and bids farewell to another season of majestic music.
Concert-goers will get to hear the rare sound of a full concert orchestra and choir through the opening performance of Mozart’s Coronation Mass. The program will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
“Our final concert of the season, Tragedy and Triumph, will bring together the Hays Symphony and FHSU Choirs for Mozart’s elegant and sublime Coronation Mass,” stated Music Director Brian Buckstead earlier in the season. “We will bring the season to an exciting close with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, a bold, expressive, and thrilling masterpiece by the beloved composer.”
The two immense pieces comprising the concert program reinforce the dual themes proposed by Director Buckstead, “Tragedy” and “Triumph.” In Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, hammering brass repeatedly clash against blissful melodies that imitate daydreams. The master composer echoes the way fate can cruelly intrude upon happiness through the sudden blasting of his signature trumpet rhythms.
Meanwhile, Mozart’s Mass in C Major offers triumphant rejoice for festive occasions. Originally reserved for royal coronations and religious holidays, the piece is now regularly revived for annual celebrations both sacred and symphonic.
These two pieces, each grand yet produced almost exactly a century apart from one another, will be staged together for a truly unique concert experience.
The “Tragedy and Triumph” concert closes out a season of crowd favorites ranging from the fall’s Outdoor and Holiday Pops Concerts to Holst’s sounds of space with the annual Children’s Halloween Concert. The spring gave spotlight to the student musical talent at Fort Hays State University through its Arias and Concertos Concert. Now, the Hays Symphony invites the community to its gripping season finale of monumental masterpieces by Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
As far as finale concerts go, Director Buckstead expresses his sincerity that those in attendance will be moved by the symphony’s efforts. “Nothing beats the experience of live music, performed with passion by the wonderful members of our orchestra.”
Like with all Hays Symphony concerts, attendance is free and open to the public. After the concert, attendees are invited to the hall’s lobby to meet the musicians at the post-concert reception sponsored by Auto World.
Attendees are encouraged to reserve tickets in advance on the symphony’s website at https://www.hayssymphony.org where they can also make donations to sustain free classical music in the Hays community.