GREEN vs BLUE • The SBSO Hosts the Ultimate Musical Tailgate Experience Oct. 25th

As the legendary rivalry between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan heats up on the football field, the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra (SBSO) is bringing fans together for an innovative and unforgettable musical tailgate party unlike any other you may have experienced with their upcoming presentation titled Green vs Blue: The Concert Tailgate Experience.

Happening on Friday, October 25^th at 7:30 PM at the historic Temple Theatre, prior to the performance fans are invited to enjoy an outdoor tailgate party at Morley Plaza starting at 5:00 PM, where a variety of food trucks will be serving up game day favorites, including Makin Bacon, along with other local food vendors, who will provide a delicious pre-concert experience that echoes the spirit of game day.

Whether you’re cheering for Michigan State University or the University of Michigan, fans are encouraged to show their team spirit by wearing their favorite team colors to this energetic musical showcase as Maestro Fouad Fakhouri conducts the SBSO through a vibrant lineup of music celebrating American composers and the energy of competition.

Selections from this high-spirited musical evening will include Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, which this gifted artist who is considered the Dean of American composers and is best known for his piece Fanfare for the Common Man, wrote back in 1942 as an inspirational work for narrator and orchestra using text arranged from speeches by Abraham Lincoln.

This SBSO performance will include special guest Art Lewis as the speaker, whom  Maestro Fakhouri is excited to be sharing the stage with. “I meet with Art often to promote various concerts on WSGW radio, and one thing he always brings up is what a highlight it was in his career to perform this piece with the orchestra many years ago, and how he would love to do it again,” relates Fakhouri.

“Because we have our elections coming up in November, this piece is very patriotic in spirit and talks about the American Experience and what this country is truly about, so before meeting with Art a week ago I looked it up and incredibly the last time the SBSO did this piece with Art was back in October 25^th, 2014, which incredibly is ten years to the exact date of this upcoming performance!”

Also on the bill will be Symphony #1 written by Christopher Rouse.  “This is a very adventurous composition that Rouse wrote back in 1984, and he is one of my favorite composers of all time,” enthuses Fakhouri. “He taught at Julliard School of Music and recently passed away, but was a very unique American voice who is not performed as much as he should be, which is why I make it a point to always include his work.”

“The reason he interests me is because Rouse grew up loving hard rock music like Black Sabbath and Metallica and heavy 70’s rock bands, so his music incorporates a lot of that rock element of loudness and aggressiveness.  But after writing all these loud fast and explosive pieces, he goes out and writes his first symphony, which is very slow and drawn out, filled with anguish, and a very powerful piece.  I’m excited to be bringing this work to audiences because I often her people ask if there are any people writing great classical symphonies nowadays; and yes, this is one of those great new works.”

Also included within this cleverly crafted program will be a pair of composer Michael Torke’s pieces titled  Green and Blue, which are part of a series of ‘Color Music’ he wrote when finishing his graduate studies back in the 1980s that weave together the connection between color and sound.

According to Maestro Fakhouri, “There is a unique condition known as Synesthesia, which is when your brain routes sensory information causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously, such as literally tasting words or linking colors to numbers, letters and sounds. When you hear a certain sound you see a specific color.”

“Amazingly, my daughter has this condition and when she was a young kid she remarked how when she saw my name the letters had different colors. I asked her to go down the entire alphabet and write down the color she saw related to letter, and then four months later asked her to do this again and every single letter had the same color associated with it as the earlier list, so this condition can manifest itself both visually and audibly.”

“Because the actual Michigan State vs. University of Michigan game will be held on Saturday, October 26^th, we’ll be performing Green and Blue  as part of our pre-game show in a musical duel of sorts between these two colors the day before the game.” 

In the spirit of friendly competition, fans can make donations to the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra in honor of their favorite team—“Green” for Michigan State University and “Blue” for the University of Michigan. The team that raises the most donations will be announced during intermission, adding another layer of excitement to the evening. Additionally, local artist Valerie Allen will be creating two paintings during this portion of the program - one with green and one with blue - to help the audience visualize these colors on the canvas s the SBSO performs color music.

Last but certainly not least, this program will include a new original composition by Michigan composer Catherine McMichael, who wrote a piece last year called Celestial Navigation in honor of Margaret Hamilton, who worked on programming the code for the Apollo 11 mission that returned the astronauts safely back to earth. “This piece isn’t about exploring space so much as how the composer perceived Hamilton’s mind working as she developed the code to get the astronauts back home,” explains Fakhouri. “I had never heard of this lady before Catherine showed me this piece and it’s a phenomenal musical creation.”

With such a stellar line-up of musical tail gating activity on the horizon, this upcoming SBSO performance promises a rousing celebration for fans on both sides of the rivalry, as well as those eager to experience a diverse array of cutting edge contemporary classical music.

Tickets for ‘Green vs. Blue: The Concert Tailgate Experience are available through the Temple Theatre Box Office by phoning 999.754.7469 or online at TempleTheatre.com. Prices range from $14.00 to $85.00.  The Temple Theatre is located at 201 N. Washington Ave., Saginaw.