Kansas City native Stephanie Berg just received a master's in clarinet performance and composition from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2012. And she only began thinking of making a career as a composer in 2009, after wining the Sinquefield Composition Prize. But she already is making her St. Louis Symphony debut. On Jan. 10 and 11, the symphony will perform Berg's "Ravish and Mayhem."
Originally written for chamber orchestra, the piece was inspired by a "wild street festival" in "some sort of exotic location, like ancient Egypt," Berg said.
Guest host Jim Kirchherr described the piece as accessible and said parts of the work reminded him of Copland.
"I actually go for accessibility," Berg said. "I like to make things that people enjoy partaking in."
Berg's "Ravish and Mayhem" is the second work associated with the Mizzou New Music Initiative to be performed by the St. Louis Symphony this season. Patrick Harlin's "Rapture" was performed last September by the symphony. Berg and Harlin were two of eight resident composers in the 2012 summer Mizzou International Composers Festival.
Related Event
Andrey Boreyko Conducts the St. Louis Symphony in Stephanie Berg's "Ravish and Mayhem," Nielsen's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7
Jan. 10 and 11, 2014
8:00 p.m.
718 N. Grand Blvd.
For more information, call 314-534-1700 or visit the St. Louis Symphony website.
Cityscape is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer, hosted bySteve Potter and funded in part by the the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Today's show was hosted by Jim Kirchherr of the Nine Network.
