The 36th season of the Orpheus concert series opened with guest artists Musica Viva
From left: Musica Viva violinists Susan Doering and Daniel Jang, celloist Dieter Wulfhorst and violist Claudia Shiuh perform “Orpheus” Sunday night at the Wahlberg Recital Hall on campus.
The 36th season of the Orpheus concert series opened Sunday evening with the string quartet Musica Viva, captivating an audience of all ages in Fresno State’s Wahlberg Recital Hall.
The group, comprised of two violins, a viola and a cello, performed classical pieces from three renowned composers Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and Felix Mendelssohn.
During the two-hour performance, the music created a mixture of emotions for the audience, each piece orchestrating a serene feeling before dramatically shifting in intensity.
Calm moments quickly turned into moments of frenzy or excitement.
For artistic director Jack Fortner, this diversity is what defines the “innovative” programming behind Orpheus.
Running the program for the last 35 years, Fortner aspires to bring something different to each season.
“One of the things about Orpheus, as far as a listener goes, is you never know what to expect,” Fortner said.
Beyond the essence of variety, Fortner said the aim of the series is to “charm” audiences through its music, similar to the legendary musician and poet Orpheus of ancient Greek mythology.
The Greek myths about Orpheus convey an artist who had the ability to charm things both living and dead with his melodies.
The most notable myth is Orpheus’ rescue of Eurydice, the musician rescuing his wife from death by enchanting the hearts of Hades and Persephone, the God and Queen of the Underworld.
Inspired by such stories, Fortner chose Orpheus as the series title in the spirit of captivating people with divine music.
“One of the greatest musicians of the world could charm the animals and the gods, and that’s our goal — to charm,” Fortner said.
Diane Majors, a retired Fresno State librarian and a regular to Fresno State’s musical events, said the performance’s appeal comes from listening to unfamiliar pieces, living up to Fortner’s ambition of delivering variety.
Majors was originally apprehensive of the American composer Philip Glass’ reputation, but her biggest surprise was listening to Glass’ “String Quarter No. 5.”
“I think his music’s kind of weird. That’s my impression,” Majors said. “So I was pleasantly surprised that it was very traditional.”
Yet the performance didn’t just attract educated fans such as Majors. The recital also drew in newcomers.
Senior Ariana Garcia was attracted to the performance because of the violins, straying away from her preferred genre of Spanish music.
New to the world of classical composers, she was surprised that despite the intensity of the music it has an ability to “bring peace.”
“For some reason it relaxes me, even though it doesn’t seem like relaxing music,” Garcia said. “It’s completely different.”
Musica Viva was the first performance of the four in the Orpheus series that will be held at Fresno State.
Scheduled throughout the spring, the remaining three events will continue with the theme of variety in musical classical performance.
Most notable is the world premiere of chamber opera ‘NOTHING and more’ which will feature the El Cimarrón Ensemble from Salzburg, Austria, collaborating with the Orpheus Chamber Music Ensemble.
Scheduled for March 15 in the Fresno State Concert Hall, the opera is directed and composed by Fortner.
The final two performances will be a solo recital by pianist Michael Krikorian on April 6 and the series finale by Orpheus Chamber Music Ensemble on May 11.
Tickets cost $15 for public and $5 for students.For additional information, visit orpheuscalifornia.org.