May 3, 2006

Contact: Michele Abba
Cal Poly Music Department
(805) 756-2406, music@calpoly.edu
http://symphony.calpoly.edu

Cal Poly Symphony To Give Season Finale May 21

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The Cal Poly Symphony’s season finale on Saturday, May 21, will
feature Edward Elgar's "Sea Pictures" for mezzo-soprano and orchestra and Gustav Holst's "The Planets," both British masterpieces written near the turn of the 20th century.

The concert, titled “The Planets and the Sea,” will be at 3 p.m. in Harman Hall in the Performing Arts Center's Christopher Cohan Center. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Jacalyn Kreitzer will be the featured soloist for "Sea Pictures." The Cal Poly Symphony will be conducted by music faculty member David Arrivée.

"These two works share more than one might think," Arrivée said. "Holst's work is a series of character sketches based on astrological signs. He starts with the personality of people born under Mars and progresses to the personality guided by Neptune. It's a wonderful journey from stubborn violence to ethereal enlightenment, and the whole thing can be heard as the perfection of the human soul.

“The movements of Elgar's ‘Sea Pictures’ are based on poetry that deals with the sea. They speak powerfully from a vantage point beyond death, and just like 'The Planets,' this music looks back on the human journey."

Tickets for the concert are $6 for students, $8 and $10 for senior citizens, and $10 and $12 for the public. They are on sale at the Performing Arts Ticket Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order by phone, call SLO-ARTS (756-2787). Patrons who buy season tickets to four Music Department events, through the Performing Arts Ticket office, will receive a 10 percent discount; a 15 percent discount is given on tickets to five or more events.

The concert is sponsored by Cal Poly’s Music Department, College of Liberal Arts and Instructionally Related Activities program. For more information, visit http://symphony.calpoly.edu or call 756-2406.

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