Associate Professor Ricardo Averbach conducts students in preparation for a performance with the Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra Wednesday. (ALLISON BACKOVSKI | The Miami Student)
October will be memorable for the Miami University Symphony Orchestra (MUSO) as students prepare to perform with the Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestras will perform together at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8 in Hall Auditorium and again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 at Hamilton's New Life Vineyard.
The concert will mark MUSO's first collaboration with a professional orchestra.
Founded in 1890, MUSO is conducted by Ricardo Averbach, who has been with the group since 2002. A native of Brazil, Averbach aims to incorporate musical experiences from across the globe into a unified sound.
"My mission is to try to bring new dimensions to performances because I think music is much more than playing good notes," Averbach said. "In this case, we are adding an extra dimension to a historical piece by performing a symphony that has meaning and relevance to our days."
Averbach is working with Paul Stanbery, conductor of the Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra, to deliver the joint performance.
Averbach said Miami has not collaborated with professional orchestras in the past because of creative differences.
"The collaboration of any two orchestra groups is unusual mainly due to the fact that there is high competition in music and conductors have their own ideas about the way things should be done," Averbach said.
The ensemble consists of students from across the world and of all ages and skill levels, ranging from first-year non-music majors to music graduate students, Averbach said.
Junior Kristin Hill, president of MUSO, is also excited about the collaboration. A music major, Hill has played the viola for more than 11 years.
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"We are a pretty powerful orchestra on our own, but the sound is going to be so much bigger with the combined talents of the Hamilton Fairfield Orchestra," she said.
Additionally, the concert will include the world premiere of Lento by prominent Bulgarian composer Lazar Nikolov, a piece that holds special meaning to Averbach.
Averbach said the piece adds a new dimension to the concert regarding the concept of music and totalitarianism.
The program in Hamilton, in which the two orchestras will be completely combined, will include Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Lento along with several other pieces.
"We join people around the world in a tribute to all the visionary men and women who use the power of music to lift peoples of different backgrounds and beliefs above the differences that set us apart," Averbach said. "Through our music, we reaffirm our conviction that humanity will triumph and harmony will prevail."
The concert is free to the public at both the Oxford and Hamilton performances.
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