Spanish Passions & Nordic Vistas

Violinist Charles Dimmick is the violin soloist for Symphonie Espagnole.  He enjoys a varied and distinguished career as concertmaster, soloist, and chamber musician.  Praised by the Boston Globe for his “cool clarity of expression,” Charles is one of New England’s most sought-after orchestral musicians.  He is co-concertmaster of the Boston Pops Esplanade, and concertmaster of both the Portland Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

Conductor Robert Lehmann is Professor of Music and Director of Strings Studies and Orchestral Activities at the University of Southern Maine School of Music where he conducts the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra and the Portland Youth Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his duties at USM, he is Music Director of the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra and the White Mountain Bach Festival in New Hampshire.

The orchestra performs two Spanish-themed pieces by French composers: George Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1 and Edouard Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole.  Both pieces premiered in 1875. The Lalo was originally composed for the Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate.  The Carmen Suite No. 1 includes some of the most familiar tunes from the popular opera.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ music is inspired by the lakes and forests of his native country,  the long winter nights and the endless summer days when the sun never sets.   Finnish folk music also influenced his music, as demonstrated by the dance rhythm at the beginning of the first movement of Symphony No. 3, as well as the lovely slow melody in the second movement