If Kyle Hurihara were to set the city of La Cañada to music, what would it sound like?
“I’d imagine it would be somewhat majestic,” said the 16-year-old La Cañada High School junior, “prideful but not excessively elaborate.”
This is something Hurihara might never have contemplated were he not a member of the Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra, which will feature in an upcoming concert the works of four classical composers who drew inspiration from their own native lands.
My Land, My Music will be held Nov. 22 at Pasadena City College’s Novat Sexson Auditorium at 3:30 p.m. The concert will include Andalusian folk music from The Three Cornered Hat by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla; Finlandia by Jean Sibelius; Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Little Russian; and Aaron Copland’s classic American ballet score, Rodeo.
“Every concert, I always try to come up with a theme so the kids can relate to it better,” said Music Director and conductor Jo Raquel Stoup, who selects works for the concert. “We thought it would be fun to present works by composers who were inspired by the folk songs, rhythms and dances of their own countries.”
Some of the pieces perfectly match the theme, like Finlandia, written in 1899 for a rally defending freedom of the press, and Copland’s Rodeo, which many recognize as the quintessential American frontier music.
The Little Russian, on the other hand, is not considered a signature work of Tchaikovsky, whose style typically resembled German composers. Still it captures the spirit of Little Russia, the old moniker for modern-day Ukraine, Stoup said.
The pieces being featured in the concert present both a musical challenge and an opportunity for the young musicians to play works off the beaten path.
“This concert features a lot of aspects of music you don’t usually hear,” Hurihara said. “It has a variety of styles and backgrounds that make it interesting.”
Other La Cañada students who will be performing in My Land, My Music include: Ling Rao on harp, Denny and Jennifer Choi on violin, Ashton Moura on horn and Janice Lee on viola.
For its next concert in February, PYMO will flip this month’s theme on its head by exploring composers who were famously inspired by foreign cultures, including George Gershwin’s Cuban Overture and Rapsodie Espagnole by French composer Maurice Ravel.
Tickets may be purchased at the door for the suggested donation price of $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. Children under age 12 are free. For more information about PYMO or its upcoming performances, call (626) 403-1086 or visit www.pymo.org.
