A modern opening to a classic season

Young Chang

American musicians nowadays don’t play much music from their own

country, said Robert McDuffie.

“And I say that with a little sadness,” the New Yorker continued. “I

think it should be natural for Americans to play music of their country.”

Contemporary masterpieces refresh this composer. They help him avoid

musical ruts, keep his senses sharp and make the classics sound fresh.

“It’s just another way of speaking,” McDuffie said of playing the

modern genre.

He will perform one of his favorite contemporary pieces Wednesday with

the Pacific Symphony Orchestra: Philip Glass’ Concerto for Violin and

Orchestra. Glass, a Baltimore native, injects a seductiveness to the

music, McDuffie said. And there’s a “galvanizing nature” to the piece

that entices him as a musician.

McDuffie will perform the composition this week for the opening of the

orchestra’s first Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Classics Concert

Season. And he will partner with a noncontemporary instrument -- his 1735

Guarneri del Gesu violin.

The instrument cost $3.5 million and is owned by 16 people, including

himself. The investors bought the rare violin earlier this year. It has

been leased to McDuffie for 25 years.

“I just fell in love with it,” the composer said. “There are only 100

left in the world made by this maker, and only 10 of those are truly

elite.”

What ranks the instrument as royalty is its sound.

“It’s very rich and powerful, but sweet at the same time,” McDuffie

affectionately said. “That’s what makes it incredibly special.”

Pacific Symphony’s musical director Carl St. Clair said opening night

this year will have a “special flavor,” especially with McDuffie

performing.

“We use basically the same type of formula in that we try to create a

huge variety of repertoire -- from the absolute standard masterpieces of

the classic world, but then to add to that something very, very new and

imaginative and creative,” St. Clair said.

Glass’ concerto, coupled with McDuffie’s performance, will provide

that modern edge to the performance and the season. As will the world

premiere of Richard Danielpour’s “American Requiem” in November and

violinist Kyung-Wha Chung’s world premiere performance of Michael Kurek’s

“That Which Remains Unspoken.”

The rest of the season includes such classics as a semi-staged version

of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Dvorak in America and a

performance by the Alpine Symphony, including a tone poem by Richard

Strauss.

“We want to bring a great classic repertoire to several audiences, but

at the same time by continuously stretching [listeners’] imaginations and

challenge their ears,” St. Clair said.

FYI

* WHAT: Pacific Symphony Orchestra’s season opener

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday

* WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

* COST: $21-$56

* CALL: (714) 755-5788