Jupiter Symphony opens in Bozeman

Mozart's final symphony performed

MONTANA LIVING – The Bozeman Symphony starts the second half of its 2022 concert season with Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony, the final, largest and most complex symphony Mozart wrote.

Opening this performance is living composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra, a contemporary piece highlighting the wind sections of the orchestra. The Symphony welcomes brilliant Tokyo-born violinist, Karen Gomyo, for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major. 

Music Director Norman Huynh continues to push the limits of the orchestra by programming Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony for the first time in the Bozeman Symphony’s 54-year history. Huynh is delighted to share this Classical masterpiece, known for its good humor, exuberant energy, and unusually grand scale, with the Bozeman community. These qualities likely earned the symphony its nickname “Jupiter”—for the chief god of the ancient Roman pantheon.  

“Mozart’s final fugue in the last movement is one of the most glorious and uplifting moments in the entire classical music canon,” said Huynh. “Prokofiev’s first Violin Concerto and Gabriela Frank’s Apu paired with Mozart will give our audience a thrilling aural experience that spans over 200 years of history.” 

This stirring century-spanning performance opens with “Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra,” by Gabriela Lena Frank, a multicultural composer of Peruvian-Chinese-Lithuanian-Jewish descent. The piece portrays a mischievous mountain spirit from Andean Peruvian lore—leaping about the Andean peaks, tumbling over in peals of laughter while sensing the folk tone it is being gifted. Composed in 2017, this riveting piece was commissioned by Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. 

Following Frank’s Apu, the Bozeman Symphony welcomes internationally recognized violinist Karen Gomyo to the stage for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major. Prokofiev wrote this piece in 1917 during one of the most turbulent years in Russian history: the year of the Russian Revolution, when liberals and moderate socialists toppled the czarists from power and Russia became the world’s first socialist state.  

Music Director Huynh is thrilled to perform this powerful Concerto that became an instant hit 200 years ago because it perfectly straddles the conservative and progressive worlds (Romanticism and Modernism). Gomyo’s precision and incredible technical skill will shine on her 1703 “Aurora” Stradivarius violin during this historic masterwork. 

“Karen Gomyo is a world-class performer who is soloing with major orchestras in international venues. We are excited to bring an artist of her caliber to the Bozeman community,” said Huynh. 

Join Music Director Huynh, guest artist Gomyo, and your Bozeman Symphony Orchestra for this much-anticipated program of music that spans centuries—from classical composing giants like Prokofiev and Mozart to contemporary composer Gabriela Lena Frank—there’s something for everyone. 

Performances will be held in person Saturday, February 26 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, February 27 at 2:30 pm, at the Willson Auditorium (404 West Main Street), downtown Bozeman. Pre-concert talks with Music Director Norman Huynh will take place at 6:30 pm Saturday and 1:30 pm Sunday at the Willson Auditorium and are available to attend with the purchase of a concert ticket. These performances would not be possible without strong community support and sponsorship. The Symphony wishes to thank David Ross and Risi for their season sponsorship, and Kimberlie and Bruce Jodar for their supporting sponsorship of this performance. 

Ticketing: Individual tickets are available for purchase online at bozemansymphony.org or by phone at 406-585-9774. Tickets at the door based on availability. Adult tickets range from $27.00-$67.00.  Student and group discounts are available. Please contact the Bozeman Symphony at 406-585-9774 or tickets@bozemansymphony.org with questions you have regarding performance, ticket sales, venue, seating information, and COVID-19 safety protocols. 

ABOUT Karen Gomyo, violin - Born in Tokyo and beginning her musical career in Montréal and New York, violinist Karen Gomyo has recently made Berlin her home. A musician of the highest calibre, the Chicago Tribune praised her as “…a first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity.”