Edvard Tchivzhel, the Greenville Symphony’s music director emeritus, returns to the podium to conduct three popular works as a part of the orchestra’s year-long celebration of American concert music.
The program spotlights Leonard Bernstein’s sparkling Overture to “Candide” and George Gershwin’s jazzy “An American in Paris.”
Sergei Rachmaninoff, a Russian composer who became an American, will be represented by his last great work, the “Symphonic Dances.”
The program will be performed twice, Nov. 22-23 in the Peace Concert Hall.
The orchestra’s American Season was designed as a part of the national commemoration in 2026 of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“I’m very excited to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America,” said Tchivzhel, a Soviet defector who became an American citizen in 1999.
In leading the Greenville Symphony for almost a quarter of a century, 1999-2023, Tchivzhel always began performances in the Peace Concert Hall with the National Anthem as a tribute to his adopted country.
Jolly and melancholy
Bernstein’s “Candide” Overture is a spirited orchestral concert-opener.
Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” meanwhile, is a 1928 musical narrative of an American’s jolly and melancholy visit to the City of Light. Gershwin scored the latter work for the standard symphony orchestra but also adds some unique instruments — including tuned taxi horns and three saxophones.
Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances,” which premiered in 1941, displays the beloved composer’s characteristic tuneful and heartfelt melodies, Tchivzhel said.
“It was his last composition,” Tchivzhel said. “It very much summed up Rachmaninoff’s life, with nostalgia for his native Russia.”
In addition to his occasional guest-conducting engagements, Tchivzhel leads the International Conducting Lab, a week-long summer institute for prospective and early-career classical-music conductors.
Want to go?
What: Greenville Symphony: “An American in Paris,” conducted by Edvard Tchivzhel
When: Nov. 22-23
Where: Peace Concert Hall at Peace Center, 300 S. Main St., Greenville
Tickets: $24.20-$103.40
Info: 864-467-3000 or peacecenter.org
