Local composer finds pulse of city in new work for CSO Youth Orchestra

Gary Wilkes, the director of orchestras at CSAS, president of the Tennessee Music Education Association, conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Youth Orchestra Symphony as well as many other titles.

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Youth Orchestras will open their 2012-13 season Monday, Nov. 5, with a concert performed by the organization's Symphony Orchestra with Gary Wilkes conducting. The concert features the world premiere of a locally commissioned work by Dr. David Holsinger of Lee University, titled "Circling Chattanooga: Three Episodes Inspired by a City's Life and Drama."

Holsinger describes the work as his impression of "a day in the life of a wonderfully vibrant river town." The music begins, he says, "on the banks of the gently flowing Tennessee River. It walks the parks and river bridges. It quietly soars above the cliffside museums and quiet coffee shops. It catapults through the kinetic energy of a bustling downtown of concertgoers and zooming triathlon swimmers, bicycles and runners."

Holsinger has attended rehearsals with the CSOYO Symphony Orchestra, offering a rare opportunity for the students to ask questions directly of a composer about the work they're performing. While Holsinger has written numerous works for band, this is the first piece that he has written for a full symphony orchestra.

The CSOYO Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sandy Morris, will open the concert. Also featured on the program is the winner of the 2012 CSOYO Concerto Competition, cellist Hannah Kuhn. Hannah, a student at the Center for Creative Arts, will be performing the fourth movement of Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in the second half of the program.