The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest will take the stage at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago on April 28 for a powerful performance led by Music Director Jay Friedman. The concert will be his final one before retiring from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Joined by City Voices and The Tower Chorale, the orchestra will present the Chicago-area premiere of Franz Liszt’s Missa Solemnis in a choral showcase. Choral conductor William Chin will lead the vocal ensembles, with Patrick Godon accompanying on piano and organ. The program will also feature Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.
Missa Solemnis translates to “solemn mass” in Latin. Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is a monumental sacred work completed in 1823, inspiring other composers like Liszt to create their own powerful settings of the solemn mass. According to Friedman, Liszt’s Missa Solemnis had never been performed in Chicago and had only been staged twice outside Hungary in the United States.
“In fact, it had never been performed outside of Hungary, except for two performances in the United States. But this will be the first performance in Chicago of Liszt’s version of the Missa Solemnis. It’s certainly an interesting choice of repertoire for us,” Friedman said.
Friedman explained that he only discovered the piece by accident while researching the Chicago Symphony archives. Despite the Chicago Symphony never performing it, he noted that Theodore Thomas, the orchestra’s founder, conducted it at the Cincinnati May Festival in the early 1880s.
Friedman has served as principal trombone of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1965, holding the Lisa and Paul Wiggin Principal Trombone Chair. A prominent soloist with the CSO, he has performed numerous premieres and been featured in several significant works with the orchestra.
In addition to the Symphony Center premiere of Missa Solemnis, the concert will be Friedman’s final performance at Symphony Center before retiring from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Friedman has played trombone with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1962 and is set to retire from the orchestra this year. He also has served as Music Director of the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest since 1995, earning recognition as Conductor of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras in 2002 and will continue his role as director of the local symphony.
“I’m very excited about staying active in my musical activities. Conducting the orchestra is just an extension of my musical career. I’m very interested in music preparation and presentation. I haven’t lost any enthusiasm for performing or making music, even though I’m retiring from the orchestra,” Friedman said.
When asked what he’s most proud of during his time with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Friedman said it’s the longevity of his career.
“As a principal brass player, it’s quite a task to maintain my own playing at a high standard and to last that long in one of the world’s greatest orchestras,” Friedman said.
Friedman expressed his gratitude for following in Adolph Herseth’s footsteps, having played principal trombone in the orchestra for a similarly long and prestigious career. principal trumpet for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 53 years.
“There were some other brass players from the Chicago Symphony as well who had very long careers here, which is quite unusual for brass players, as playing at such a high level into their advanced years is very demanding. It’s a physically stressful job playing a brass instrument in a symphony,” Friedman said. “But there’s something about the people who have played in the Chicago Symphony brass section – there was a tradition of longevity, at a very high level.”
Tickets are available now at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Box Office. For details, visit symphonyoprf.org or contact thesymphonyOPRF@gmail.com.