BYU Philharmonic

One of the perks of being the music director of an orchestra is that you can program your favorites. And while that’s not one of Kory Katseanes’ main criteria for choosing works, it’s always nice when you get the chance to conduct an evening of favorites.

That will be the case when the BYU Philharmonic plays its last concert of the season on April 9. “We have a great program that’s going to be a lot of fun,” Katseanes said. On the program will be Hector Berlioz’s overture to Benvenuto Cellini, Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”

“I love all of these works, and Benvenuto Cellini is my favorite Berlioz overture,” Katseanes said. “It’s such a wonderful piece and the orchestration is fascinating.”

The same goes for the Hindemith. “It’s a big orchestral romp,” he said. “It’s like a box of chocolates. There is so much in it.”

Unlike works by the other two composers on the program, Hindemith’s music isn’t played very often and has been largely neglected by orchestras in the United States. “There are only two or three of his pieces that people know, and after that his music thins out in popularity.”

That certainly can’t be said about the third work on the program, Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony. “It’s a great piece and probably one of the best known and best loved symphonies ever written.” But that doesn’t mean Katseanes takes it for granted whenever he conducts it. “The ‘New World’ is just like many of the pieces that are über known – like Beethoven’s Fifth. You don’t really know them for what they are because of their popularity. But when you listen to them there is always something new to learn.”

CONCERT INFO:

Location: de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center, Brigham Young University

Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. April 9

Tickets: $2-$20

Phone: 801-422-4322

Web: www.byuarts.com