Think Globally, Listen Locally Vermont Symphony Orchestra Visits the College for its "Made in Vermont" Music Festival

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The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) played at Middlebury College last Saturday rounding out its fourth concert of this fall's "Made in Vermont" Music Festival. The sold-out event at the Center for the Arts Concert Hall was well attended by parents who were on campus for the Fall Family Weekend.
When the VSO was founded 68 years ago, it intended to bring chamber music to Vermont's smaller towns. The VSO was "dedicated to traveling to any gymnasium, racetrack or hillside" — anywhere an audience could be found. Due to this philosophy, the oldest state-supported orchestra in the country captures a great variety of musicians and audiences.
This founding principle reverberated in the opening speech of Saturday's concert.
Since the orchestra's last season, it has performed in more than 47 concerts and over 20 communities around Vermont. The annual "Made in Vermont" Music Festival brings the chamber orchestra to smaller venues in 10 different towns. The 30-plus members will carry their music to subsequent venues in Randolph, Lyndon, Derby Line, Colchester, Vergennes and Duxbury.
The first piece of the evening was Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in four movements. Anthony Princiotti, associate conductor of the VSO, emerged on stage in a black, silky Mandarin-collared shirt. He conducted the orchestra elegantly and expressively, his tai chi-like moves evoking emotion in the players.
Princiotti, who graduated from the Julliard School of Music and obtained his doctorate from Yale University, is also musical director of the New Hampshire Philharmonic.
The Adagio movement gave center stage to the oboe and lower strings. This movement also featured a violin solo, which was interesting, as this movement was intended for the much higher-pitched and nearly obsolete violino piccolo.
The sudden lively swing was well executed. In fact, this skilled handling of change in moods by the orchestra was apparent all through the performance.
The first movement of Mozart's Symphony 40 in G minor, which also had sudden changes in mood and tempo in the beginning, was very well played. The danceable Allegro and the Minuet were also pleasant to the ears — marks of Bach's prowess. Therefore, it was shocking to find out that the Margrave of Brandenburg, to whom Bach gave a collection of six compositions, inventoried these movements with other compositions and placed a total value of four groschen (two cents) on this precious collection.
The second piece was the 11 minute world-premier of David R. Gunn's "A Tangoed Web." Vermont-based Gunn studied music in the Settlement Music School in Philadephia, focusing in piano and percussion and graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in musical composition.
His sense of humor has been a trademark of his early works, which include pieces such as "A Suite of Piano Pieces for Unruly Children" and "Sonata for 2nd French horn, Piano and Page Turner." However, this talented composer does not cut back musical complexity, especially rhythmic complexity, in his work.
According to Gunn, this commissioned piece is "serious but fun." It is a mosaic of eight different tango themes and begins with Principal Percussionist Thomas Toner walking in from the back of the Concert Hall playing a simple beat on the Ewe drum. Toner, assistant professor of music at the University of Vermont, has also had an eclectic career, which includes work in Monaco and Ghana. He is a special feature on this tour.
The initial beats of the Ghanian drum resonated with the cellos and soon a full-blown vivacious tango was playing. The interception of the solo drum was a unifying element in this piece, which made for fascinating listening due to its syncopated beat at certain parts. The end of the piece was equally attention-grabbing; the solo drum was augmented by all sorts of percussion instruments — kick drums, tom toms, timbales, congas, cowbell, cabasa and woodblocks, incrementally gaining intensity. This dramatic end closed the first half of the concert.
Mozart's Symphony 40 in G Minor, K550, movements Molto Allegro, Andante, Minuet Allegretto and Allegro Assai, was performed during the second half. The quick and intense phrases, especially in the final movement, were well executed and the climactic ending concluded the concert on an exciting note — literally.