Folk Touch: Show highlights mandolin

Robert Moody, the music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony, said he favors programming that shows connections between tried-and-true pieces and something that's new. He likened this approach to "taking the audience on a journey," and it will continue next weekend when the orchestra presents "The Miraculous Mandolin: An Evening with Chris Thile" at the Stevens Center.

Thile will solo in the North Carolina premiere of his Concerto for Mandolin: Ad astra per alas porci (to the sky on the wings of a pig), highlighting a program that will also include Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.

The soloists in the Brandenburg concerto, all symphony members, will include violinist Fabrice Dharamraj, flutist Kathryn Levy, oboist Amanda LaBrecque and trumpeter Anita Cirba. There will be two "Classics" presentations of "Miraculous Mandolin," next Sunday and March 16, with an abridged "Kicked-Back Classics" version on Saturday.

Baroque to folk

Thile, a stellar bluegrass musician, is noted for his contributions to the groups Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers. But he has also made a name for himself in classical music, having collaborated with such virtuosos as Edgar Meyer and Yo-Yo Ma. This diverse background is reflected in the concerto, one of just a handful for mandolin.

"It brings a lot of worlds together," Moody said. "You get a lot of … Baroque feeling in the concerto, at least as I'm studying it and getting ready for the performances. But also, you have a lot of the things that people now more often associate with the mandolin, a sort of a folk feeling.… And finally -- and maybe the most important thing -- there's an unbelievable virtuosity in the piece. Chris Thile is to the mandolin what Yo-Yo Ma is to the cello."

Moody also described an "incredibly well-crafted" work, with lots of mixed meter and counterpoint.

David Levy, a musicologist at Wake Forest University, writes the symphony's program notes. He described Thile's concerto as "an authentic synthesis that draws on everything (Thile) considers good in music."

"That's certainly the goal," Thile said in a telephone interview en route to another engagement. "I would never profess to have accomplished that. I look at everything of a certain level in music as being akin. I see very little difference between a piece of, say, Bartok's or, say, a great fiddle tune. They succeed for the same reasons."

Thile said that it's a musician's duty to "put yourself in the way of as much great music as possible and to probe the depths of it to figure out … what it's accomplishing and how you can absorb that in a productive way."

Mando concerto

Thile's mandolin concerto is the first concerto he has written. It had its world premiere this past September with the Colorado Symphony. It was commissioned by the Winston-Salem Symphony and six other orchestras as part of a "consortium" cost-sharing arrangement increasingly common among orchestras. It's in three movements: The first is titled "A March, A Waltz and A Jig"; the second "Air on the F Train"; the third "The Fifth Glass."

As Thile was writing his concerto, he could have looked to the mandolin concertos that Vivaldi composed for enlightenment and inspiration. But he said he decided not to, having soloed several years ago in a Vivaldi concerto that "I did not really enjoy." Thile said that he studied master piano concertos, by such composers as Mozart and Bach, to which he was introduced as a child and has admired ever since.

"I don't always get to write everything out," Thile said. "It was a fun opportunity for me to try and benevolently control the music that's going to be made on a given night."

This is not to suggest, however, that the spontaneity associated with Thile's performances of bluegrass will be absent from those of his concerto. Indeed, he will improvise during the unaccompanied cadenza sections of the Concerto for Mandolin, recalling a practice that was once the norm.

"I like to improvise," Thile said. "It's something I like to bring to the table. It's not like a big statement, (that) there needs to be improvising in classical music. Music emulates life … you can't always plan everything out."

kkeuffel@wsjournal.com | 727-7337

Want to go?

The Winston-Salem Symphony will present concerts and activities Tuesday through March 16. The concerts are at the Stevens Center, 405 W. Fourth St.

• MUSICAL U: David Levy, a musicologist at Wake Forest University, writes the symphony's program notes. He will lead the next "Musical U" session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Reynolda House Museum of American Art. The music in the symphony's March concerts will be discussed. Admission is $25, $18 and $8. Visit www.reynoldahouse.org or call 758-5900.

• LUNCH: Robert Moody, the symphony's music director, and guest soloist Chris Thile will speak at the Music Lovers' Luncheon at noon Friday at the Piedmont Club, 200 W. Second St. (19th floor). The cost is $15. Reservations are required. Call 724-7077.

• KICK BACK: The "Kicked-Back Classics" concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The program will include Thile's Concerto for Mandolin in its entirety, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in its entirety and movements two and four of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. The four soloists in the Bach concerto will be members of the symphony: violinist Fabrice Dharamraj, flutist Kathryn Levy, oboist Amanda LaBrecque and trumpeter Anita Cirba. Tickets are $15-$35 (student rush $6).

• AFTERPARTY: "Brews with Bob" (or "Root Beer with Robert") will be immediately after the Saturday concert at NOMA Urban Bar and Grill, 321 W. Fourth St.

• CLASSIC: A "Classics" concert will be at 3 p.m. next Sunday and at 7:30 p.m. March 16. The program, titled "The Miraculous Mandolin: An Evening with Chris Thile," will include Thile's Concerto for Mandolin, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. Tickets are $15-$55 (student rush $6). For concert tickets, visit www.wssymphony.org or call 464-0145 or 721-1945.

• NOTE: Patrons are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to the "Miraculous Mandolin" concerts as part of the League of American Orchestras' annual "Orchestras Feeding America" food drive. The most-needed items include: boxed cereals; canned meats, vegetables, fruits, stews, soups, pork and beans; boxed juices and milk; peanut butter and jelly in plastic jars; pudding cups; crackers; fruit cups; fruit bars; and raisins. They will go to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. Second Harvest will provide food collection barrels at the entrance to the Stevens Center, and symphony volunteers will provide assistance to those making donations.