The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra to Present Music That Celebrates Love in February

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra's first concert of 2025, taking place on Saturday, February 8 at 8:00 p.m. at George Mason University's Harris Theatre, is a celebration of love in all its forms in honor of Valentine's Day. Music Director Christopher Zimmerman conducts the program, which includes the Regional Premiere of ANAHATA by Clarice Assad - a concerto for classical guitar and cello featuring the Boyd Meets Girl duo - alongside beloved excerpts from the operatic and symphonic repertoire. The concert exemplifies Zimmerman's instinct for creative programming and commitment to presenting well-known classical works alongside important new premieres. 

Music Director Christopher Zimmerman says: "For this concert leading up to Valentine's Day, my thought was to provide our audience with music inspired by, or reflecting, the nature of love in its many different aspects. Central to this is the presentation of a new concerto, ANAHATA by the Brazilian composer, Clarice Assad, and the dynamic, recently formed guitar and cello duo Boyd meets Girl for whom the piece was written. For most 'Westerners,' this is an exotic take on love - Anahata is a Sanskrit word meaning Unhurt or Unstricken, referring to the free-flowing of love in Yogic practices."

ANAHATA was premiered by Boyd Meets Girl with the Hartford Symphony in 2024; the FSO presents the first-ever performance of the work in the DMV region. The concerto, comprising three linked movements, is a reflection on the complex nature of love. Clarice Assad is a vocalist, pianist, educator, and composer who has lived in Brazil, France, and the United States; ANAHATA also draws inspiration from the cultures of those countries. Assad writes, "[The concerto] traces an abstract romantic arc without literal storytelling; Anahata's central theme indirectly resonates with the duo's creative chemistry and personal bond. Anahata translates love's vibrant, unblocked flow into fluid music spanning from heartache to delight."

Boyd Meets Girl pairs Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf. The duo - who are also a happily married couple - has toured the world sharing their eclectic mix of music from Debussy and Bach to Radiohead and Beyoncé, and their two studio albums have received over 4 million streams on Spotify alone. Both acclaimed soloists in their own right, Boyd has been described as "truly evocative" by The Washington Post and as "a player who deserves to be heard" by Classical Guitar Magazine, while Metcalf, who has also toured as a member of the popular chamber ensembles Eighth Blackbird, Break of Reality and Sybarite5, has been called "brilliant" by Gramophone.

Boyd Meets Girl will share insights into ANAHATA with Music Director Christopher Zimmerman and FSO audience members in a pre-concert talk beginning at 7:00 p.m.

In addition to the premiere of ANAHATA, the FSO presents several selections that embody different forms of love. The program opens with Maurice Jarre's heart-wrenching orchestral suite for the 1965 epic romance film Doctor Zhivago. Jarre's music was honored with both the Academy Award and the Grammy Award for Best Original Score for a motion picture. Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana represents "Love and Loss," while Puccini's Intermezzo from Suor Angelica embodies "A Mother's Love." Nothing could convey the passions of "Obsessive Love" like the Suite from Bizet's Carmen. And the Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony No. 5 - perhaps the most frequently performed of all his works - is known as a love letter to the composer's wife, Alma. According to Alma, Mahler left her a short love poem, whose words can easily be sung along to the Adagietto's first theme.

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