A sense of place permeates our April program, featuring a world premiere piece for clarinet and orchestra depicting the mountain bike trails of the region. Laura Grantier, former principal clarinetist of the U.S. Navy Band, has commissioned the work from composer Nadine Silverman especially to be premiered with the Salt Lake Symphony. The program opens in another dry climate, with Maurice
Ravel’s depiction of morning in Spain. Alborada del gracioso is known as one of Ravel’s most colorful orchestrations with everything from the expected castanets to a remarkable 24-part division of the string section to achieve the sonic effects of Galician dawn. The program concludes with the powerful Symphonic Dances by Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninov, a work that incorporates the composer’s gift for obsessive melody with his most innovative orchestrations.