Choose artist...

Top 10 for Feb

Michael Fine's 'Suite for Strings' is a Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen celebration of musical wanderlust

Is Sir Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations a portrait of the composer's friends or an attempt to get to know himself? And what was the enigmatic theme Elgar always refused to disclose? Chief Conductor Kristiina Poska embarks on an epic artistic journey in search of the answer. We will travel together from England to Scandinavia and finally the Baltics. Next stop: Carl Nielsen's moving and romantic Violin Concerto. Michael Fine's Suite for Strings too is a celebration of musical wanderlust: from north to south, until we arrive back home.

This classic concert takes place on October 13 in Bruges, Concertgebouw; October 15 in Ghent, Muziekcentrum De Bijloke; October 16 in Antwerp, DE SINGEL; October 22 in Roeselare, CC De Spil.

Programme
duration concert 1 h 50 min
including 20 minuten break

Michael Fine °1950 | Suite for Strings 
Carl Nielsen 1865-1931 | Violin Concerto, Op. 33
Edward Elgar 1857-1934 | Enigma Variations, Op. 36

SEE THE Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen PAGE
 

Michael Fine has worked in music – as a clarinettist, conductor, a Grammy Award-winning recording producer, record label executive, orchestra artistic planner, and most recently as a composer – despite having no formal training in music.

Michael began to compose two years ago as a response to his wife’s diagnosis with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. It was a creative outlet and a discovery that the voice he found, the music he felt compelled to write was completely other than what he had imagined. The inspirations from his musical memories, his surroundings, and from everyday life, led to his first composition – Quartet Moments with vignettes such as Dutch Weather, Dutch Tango, The River by Window and the Meadow – combine clear visual elements with a nostalgic look at compositional styles from times past. Hints of jazz come up in the Clarinet Quintet while Skipping Stones – which conjures the childhood game of skipping stones on the water – was described as nostalgically French at its premiere in California’s Festival Mozaic.

Fine’s output in the short time he has been composing already includes several orchestral scores and chamber music for several instruments.