×

Maui Pops Chamber Players to present ‘Four Masters-One Afternoon’

French horn virtuoso Mars Gelfo is a guest soloist on Mozart’s “Horn Concerto No. 1.” Courtesy photo

Under the direction of Jim Durham, the Maui Pops Chamber Players will present a "Four Masters-One Afternoon" concert featuring works by Mozart, Bach, Shostakovich and Barber on Sunday at Saint Anthony Church. A total of 23 musicians from the Maui Pops will perform in smaller groups. Among the four works, Bach's "Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major," composed in the early 1720s, was the first of Bach's four orchestral suites, which were a series of instrumental compositions that often featured dance-inspired movements showcasing varied tempos and textures. Written in the "French overture" style, it harkens back to works composed for the French court of King Louis XIV. Composed for a Leningrad dance band in 1934, Dmitri Shostakovich's popular "Jazz Suite No. 1" is a suite with three movements -- a waltz, polka and a foxtrot -- that playfully explored popular 1920s and 1930s dance styles. The Foxtrot final section featured a "Hawaiian guitar" interlude. Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" features one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. Originally composed in 1936, it was premiered two years later by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in a nationwide broadcast. It became an enduring anthem for mourning and reflection worldwide. After President John F. Kennedy's assassination, hundreds of ensembles throughout the U.S. played the "Adagio" in tribute. It was later featured in Oliver Stone's Vietnam War film "Platoon." For Mozart's "Horn Concerto No. 1," the Pops will feature French horn virtuoso Mars Gelfo as a guest soloist. "As horn players, we grew up with Mozart," said Gelfo. "There is a way in which it's deep in the soul of every horn player growing up listening to (British horn player) Dennis Brain. I wore out his Mozart concerti album. So, of course, I love it." Gelfo gravitated to the French horn in seventh grade in Florida. "My band director introduced us to all the instruments, and when he got to the French horn, he said, 'You've got to be smart to play the French horn.' That was it for me. I kind of feel like the horn chose me." From 2008 to 2014, he played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and subsequently performed and recorded with the San Francisco Symphony. "A career highlight was playing Mahler's 'First Symphony' in a concert hall with the San Francisco Symphony. Michael Tilson Thomas was conducting and Mahler's name was inscribed on the balcony in gleaming gold as we played." Besides playing with classical orchestras, he enjoys playing with DJs in sound healing jams at festivals like Burning Man. "Burning Man changed my life," he said. "One of the principles is decommodification and what that meant for me was understanding that as a professional horn player, my playing had been commodified. I started to explore what my playing outside of commodification looks like. I found that there was uniqueness and weird edges to my artistry. That's how I started doing sound healing, playing with DJs, dancing and playing horn channeling nature sounds." Visiting a biodynamic farm in California, he "channeled a bunch of different trees growing there, like channeled melodies." With the Maui Pops Chamber Players, he will also play on Shostakovich's "Jazz Suite No. 1." "Then I've got an encore that's in the works. Hopefully, it's a Hawaiian tune." "Four Masters-One Afternoon" will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Saint Anthony Church. Tickets are $30 or $15 for students 18 and under at mauipops.org.

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today