Pitt Symphony Orchestra takes the stage for their first fall show

Bellefield Hall was filled with the harmonious sounds of strings and horns as the University of Pittsburgh Symphony hosted their Fall Concert. Held on Wed. October 9, the show, curated by director Roger Zahab, included four works that showcased the dynamic talents of student performers. 

“I choose the program to balance unfamiliar “new” music with  classics that students want to play,” Zahab said. 

The Pitt Symphony Orchestra is a student group composed of Pitt students who are experienced musicians. Students of all majors are welcome to join, though many students in the group pursue music as part of either a major or minor. 

The first of the night’s pieces, “Summer,” was performed by the entire Orchestra in three parts, each of which corresponded to a different mood of the summer season. The piece was composed by director Zahab himself in 1994 but was left untouched by performers until this week when the Pitt Orchestra premiered it as the opener of their show. 

“My piece ‘Summer’ was composed for a high school orchestra,” Zahab announced to the audience at the beginning of the show, “but quite uncharacteristically for me, I was unable to complete it on time.” 

In April of this year, Zahab found the old remnants of ‘Summer’ that he had previously left unfinished, and was inspired to bring new life to the piece. 

“I saw that I made a few mistakes in the first version and could fix them – and I now have a better sense of how to create interest for the players and the audience,” Zahab said. “I have great affection for some of the musical ideas in the piece and wanted to spruce them up a bit and effectively complete the work by bringing it to performance – and a work that has never been played is unfinished.”

The stage was then cleared of all but the strings to perform the night’s second piece, Aria for Strings, composed by Halim El-Dabh in 1949. El-Dabh wrote the work as an expression of the nostalgia he felt upon preparing to immigrate to the United States from Egypt. 

For the show’s third piece, the strings were rejoined by the wider band, but instead of taking the stage, the performers surrounded the audience to create an interactive listening experience of Laura Schwartz’s “Murmur”. Opening with a xylophone solo, the audience was brought to complete silence as members of the Orchestra performed the piece, made up of numerous disjointed solo parts.

After a brief intermission, the Orchestra returned to the stage for their encore, Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony no. 9 in e minor – from the New World, op. 95”. 

Before beginning to play the New World Symphony, a work comprising four movements, conductor Zahab announced to the audience that “the Orchestra voted on this piece. Everyone really loves this piece so we’re going to do it for you.”

Daniel Cheng, a sophomore computer science major and music minor who plays the violin for the Orchestra, expressed his love for the piece.

“New World Symphony was my favorite piece to play for the show,” Cheng said.

Megumi Barclay, a junior English writing major who plays the french horn for the Orchestra also expressed that the New World symphony was her favorite piece of the show. 

“New World Symphony has been a piece I’ve been looking forward to playing for nearly a decade. The dramatic first movement, followed by the sweet sound of the English horn in the second movement, then concluded with the powerful fourth movement makes for such a fun and engaging piece to play,” Barclay said.

A common sentiment among Orchestra members that was showcased through the preparation for and performance of the Fall concert is what Zahab describes as “an abiding interest in music making.” Music is a big part of the Orchestra members’ lives, and they want to share that with others. 

“I knew I wanted to keep playing the french horn in some capacity when I got to college,” Barclay said. “When I committed to Pitt, I immediately googled whether they had an orchestra, and had reached out to the director about auditioning a week later. I listened to some past livestream recordings of the orchestra, most notably Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings” and they sounded pretty advanced so I was super excited to join.”

Cheng had a similar experience in deciding to join the Pitt Orchestra. 

“I was very involved in both my school orchestra and outside youth orchestras, so I wanted to join an orchestra coming into college,” Cheng said. “For the audition process, I submitted two solo excerpts with contrasting styles. In addition, I had to record several excerpts from orchestral works provided by our conductor, Roger Zahab.”

Zahab appreciates hearing his music and direction come to life through his students, but most of all enjoys witnessing his students express their love and passion for music. 

“It’s a little like meeting my younger self surrounded by a new group of friends. But the most important feeling is to sense that they have enjoyed playing it,” Zahab said. “I feel I am learning as much from them as they are from me…for any artist I think that is the best way to live.”

The Orchestra will be back in Bellefield Hall for their Winter Concert on December 12, 2024 at 8pm.