The Las Vegas Philharmonic took a bold approach in designing its 2021-2022 campaign, emerging from the pandemic to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday by performing all nine of his celebrated symphonies in a single season.
Music Director Donato Cabrera tells the Weekly he was a little leery of the plans at first, wondering, “Is it too much of a good thing? But everyone really got excited about it.”
The response was so enthusiastic—and the symphony’s faithful followers so eager to return to live performances at the Smith Center—that Cabrera and company felt compelled to create something special, a bonus performance to kick off the season.
“We put our thinking caps on and said, what can we do to welcome back everyone and not take away from Beethoven but still be a celebration,” Cabrera says. “We came up with the idea of introducing our new resident artist, Joshua Roman, with the most famous cello concerto by Dvořák and pairing it with Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony, which might be his most-performed piece.”
That’s the core of this week’s Fanfare!, the Phil’s comeback performance at Reynolds Hall that will also feature Aaron Copland’s beloved concert opener “Fanfare for the Common Man” and Joan Tower’s counterpoint composition, “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman.”
“It’s sort of really digging into the music we’ve all been missing so much,” Cabrera says. The new season continues—and the Beethoven extravaganza kicks off—on November 20 with his Triple Concerto and his First Symphony.
Like all arts organizations, the Philharmonic put a lot of effort into staying connected to its audience and supporters throughout the pandemic with some livestreams featuring smaller groups of musicians and other online presentations. The 23-year-old organization also had a significant recent management change, as Anne Berquist was named the new executive director in May. Two new trustees joined the board in late 2020 as well.
“We became so versatile [through the shutdown] that by the time we did have the change in leadership, it was yet one more curveball we were used to taking,” Cabrera says. “In that sense it didn’t seem out of the ordinary, but on the other hand, it’s always a wonderful moment for an organization, and a new perspective can add insight to what we have been doing and what we will be doing in the immediate and long-term future. Having her join when she did has been insightful and exciting.”
After relaunching shows at the cabaret room Myron’s in September, the Smith Center successfully restarted its Broadway Series with Cats this month. But bringing back the venue’s two resident companies in the Philharmonic and, in December, Nevada Ballet Theatre, is as meaningful as it gets for the Downtown cultural hub.
“It’s a big deal to us to welcome back our resident companies, just on the base level to think about those musicians and artists and dancers are going back to work,” Smith Center President and CEO Myron Martin said last month. “We should be reminded these people are very talented, but this is their job, and the idea that they’re able to go back to work after all this time means an awful lot to all of us.”
FANFARE! October 23, 7:30 p.m., $29-$121. Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall, 702-749-2000.
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