RPO Gives Musical Portrayal of Harmony and Dissonance

Rochester, NY – In everyday life, what is the value of harmony without disagreement?  In music, it’s much the same.  The function and impact of harmony and its musical opposite, dissonance, will be portrayed in the next pair of Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Symphony 101 concerts on Friday, January 5, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hochstein Music School, and Sunday, January 7 at 2:00 p.m. in the Hale Auditorium, Roberts Cultural Life Center at Roberts Wesleyan College.

To illustrate the concepts of harmony and dissonance, Music Director Christopher Seaman will lead the RPO in short musical examples from more than a dozen works through the last three centuries. From Baroque composers such as Handel and Bach, through the Classical and Romantic eras of Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schubert, to 20th century masters such as Debussy, Strauss, Schoenberg, Kernis and Bartok, these opposing concepts have helped evoke varying emotions, which is this year’s Symphony 101 series theme.

Music Director Seaman leads these engaging and innovative Symphony 101 concerts that feature discussion, musical examples, selections from significant works and complete pieces. Following each concert, Mr. Seaman takes questions from the audience. 

General admission tickets for these performances are $22, available online 24/7 at www.rpo.org, by phone (454-2100) and in person from the RPO Box Office, and at all Wegmans Video Departments. RPO Box Office Hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (non-concert Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.). The Wegmans Video Department is open seven days a week, 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. A convenience fee may apply.

The Symphony 101 Series is sponsored by PAETEC Communications, Inc. Additional support for this series is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

RPO performances are made possible in part with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; the State of New York; Monroe County; the City of Rochester; and American Airlines, the official airline of the RPO.