“I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness.”
George Gershwin
Nearly two years after “reconsidering” the works of quintessential ragtime composer Scott Joplin, acclaimed classical pianist Lara Downes returns with Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined, a nearly half hour suite revisiting the most famous of Gershwin pieces. Downes, who serves as Resident Artist for Classical KDFC, commissioned a new arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue” from Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón, who took the spirit and inspiration of the original piece (referenced by Gershwin above) and updated it for today’s America. Performing the piece with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra and conductor Edwin Outwater (the SFCM’s music director), Downes cycles through not just jazz and classical but sounds that could have come from diverse Arabic, Chinese, and Latin worlds—and beyond—reflecting the richly complex, endlessly multifaceted fact of life in this sometimes teetering, but hopefully evolving nation.
If you can find a ticket to the sold out show, you can see Lara Downes perform with Miró Quartet at the Bowes Performing Arts Building on Thursday, February 29.
