Canton Symphony Presents World Premiere of Bela Fleck's Second Banjo Concerto Tonight

Anticipation for the World Premiere of Béla Fleck's second banjo concerto has been mounting. Coming off his recent Grammy Award win for Best Folk Album, he will premiere the piece with the Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO) tonight, March 19, at 8:00pm at Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, adjacent to the Zimmermann Symphony Center.

The musical parts and conductor's score arrived at the Canton Symphony offices about two weeks ago and were delivered to the appropriate musicians and Music Director Gerhardt Zimmermann who will conduct the piece. All involved will prepare themselves for the full orchestra rehearsals with Mr. Fleck which begin the week of March 14. Until then, no one really knows what to expect except the composer himself.

Fleck wrote his first banjo concerto, titled "The Impostor", in 2011 and performed it with orchestras across the country, including the Canton Symphony Orchestra in 2014. For the new concerto, Fleck called upon his experiences working with those orchestras. "I have a better idea of what can be expressed with an orchestra", Fleck said in a recent interview with Tom Wachunas, a local writer and frequent reviewer of the orchestra's performances. "I've still written a pretty rhythmically complicated piece, but I think I did a lot better at using the colors of the orchestra and allowing them to do what they do best while also hopefully allowing what the banjo can do best, maybe even more so than the first concerto."

While drawing upon his musical experiences, Fleck also found new inspiration in writing the second concerto. The title of the piece is "Juno Concerto" named after Fleck's 2 ½ year old son. "When I was searching for titles, I realized that the biggest change in my life was that I was writing as a father. The world's not the same when you become a father, and you see things very differently", notes Fleck.

The concerto was co-commissioned by the Canton, Colorado and South Carolina orchestras. Following the performance in Canton, Fleck will perform the concerto with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on April 1. About why he chose to premiere the piece in Canton, Fleck puts it very simply - "I love this orchestra and I love Gerhardt."

Tickets for the concert range from $25-$45. There are senior, student and group discounts available. Tickets and the full concert season schedule are available at www.cantonsymphony.org, by calling (330) 452-2094, at the Zimmermann Symphony Center - 2331 17th Street NW in Canton - weekdays from 10am-5pm or at the Umstattd Performing Arts Hall box office beginning one hour and fifteen minutes before the performance.

Founded in 1937, the Canton Symphony Orchestra is a fully professional ensemble and organization dedicated to performing concerts that enrich, educate and entertain. Under the direction of Gerhardt Zimmermann, the orchestra performs classical, pops, holiday, and educational programs. Most performances are in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, adjacent to the Zimmermann Symphony Center 2331 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio. Parking at the Zimmermann Symphony Center is free. For more information, please visitwww.CantonSymphony.org.

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