Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Montgomery Symphony - TPR's In Focus - April 14, 2026

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Montgomery Symphony - TPR's In Focus - April 14, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from Troy University's Trojan Cafe,
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  offering handcrafted Starbucks beverages and a wide assortment
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  of meal and snack options.
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  Located on Troy University's Montgomery campus,
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  across from the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus
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  and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  Bryan Reeves, Executive Director
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  of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, joins us
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  to preview the Masterworks for Tchaikovsky Season Finale
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  and the upcoming Jubilee Pops Community Concert.
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  Bryan, welcome to Troy Public Radio.
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  Thank you so much for having me, Carolyn.
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  Bryan, you have a full agenda coming up for the spring.
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  What's on tap this week?
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  Oh yeah, we always have a lot going on.
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  This week marks the end of our Masterworks concert season.
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  So this is the last sort of classical concert
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  of the 25-26 season coming up on Friday at 7 p.m.
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  at Troy University's Davis Theater.
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  So this program is going to be really fantastic.
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  You know, we always call this concert our season finale
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  and this one certainly fits the bill.
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  We're going to play the Sibelius Violin Concerto
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  in the first half, which is going
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  to feature our violin fellow and concert master, Honey Kim.
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  And then in the second half,
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  we're going to play the Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony,
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  which is a large scale, wonderful,
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  wonderful piece of music.
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  Can you tell us more about Honey Kim
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  since she is from Alabama?
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  Honey is originally from the Birmingham area
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  and I have actually known Honey's mother
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  for quite a long time.
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  Her mother is a pianist and her mother
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  and I actually went to school together
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  at the University of Alabama.
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  And when I was working on the recital,
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  that was the last component of my master's degree,
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  Honey's mother, Heisuk, was my pianist
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  that played with me on the recital.
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  2007 or something like that, we were in rehearsals
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  and I remember this little girl running around
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  while we were rehearsing.
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  And then all these years later,
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  when we were doing the auditions for the Violin Fellowship
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  and at intermission, I saw Heisuk out in the lobby
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  and I said, Heisuk, what in the world are you doing here?
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  And then I suddenly, it wasn't until then
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  that I realized that that was her daughter
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  that I remember from all those years ago
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  and those rehearsals.
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  Now our Violin Fellow, Honey Kim,
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  and she is absolutely fantastic.
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  But she has played all over the world.
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  She has gone to the New England Conservatory.
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  She's gone to the Juilliard School
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  and she's now studying at one of the finest conservatories
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  in Europe, in Berlin.
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  And we are so lucky to have her
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  and so proud that she also comes from Alabama.
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  And so hear her Friday night
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  play the Sibelius Violin Concerto is gonna be amazing.
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  What a showcase for her talent.
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  Now earlier, you mentioned that the orchestra
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  will be playing Tchaikovsky's fourth.
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  This should be familiar to a lot of us.
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  So this is his fourth symphony
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  and it's arguably maybe his most popular.
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  It's something that's a big part of the standard repertoire
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  for orchestral musicians.
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  I would say that this is a piece of music
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  that even if someone doesn't think
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  that they've heard of Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony,
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  there are little snippets of it that have been used
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  in many different things, commercial music.
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  And so there are a lot of like little solos in there.
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  Like I'm thinking of a really wonderful solo
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  for the principal oboe in the,
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  I think the second movement it is.
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  That's really, they're very melodic
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  and really sort of familiar sounding.
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  It's a great piece of music.
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  Byron, aren't you principal trumpet
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  and won't you be in this selection?
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  That's right.
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  Yes, I also play principal trumpet in the orchestra.
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  And so, yes, I'll be on stage.
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  And this Tchaikovsky symphony number four
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  has big, big brass parts.
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  A lot of brass playing, there's percussion back there.
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  And by this point in music history
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  and in Tchaikovsky's development as a composer,
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  he's really using all the different colors
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  and tools at his disposal in the orchestra.
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  So we've all got a lot of work
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  and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
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  Can you elaborate on the story?
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  It's about fate.
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  So at this point in music history,
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  this is from the late Romantic era.
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  Composers were really thinking
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  about sort of philosophical ideas
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  and really from sort of an abstract point of view.
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  I wouldn't say that this is a piece
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  that we would say is programmatic
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  and that it doesn't tell a specific story,
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  but he uses little pieces of melody here and there
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  that sort of symbolize fate as an idea.
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  And we hear it kind of right from the beginning
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  of the first movement, the very beginning of the piece,
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  which is a big brass fanfare
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  and has this descending motive that starts in the trumpets
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  and goes all the way down to the tuba
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  that represents that idea of fate
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  and comes back over the course of the entire piece
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  all the way through to the fourth movement.
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  You know, Tchaikovsky commented
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  that this piece cost him a lot of labor.
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  I think that probably the musicians on stage
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  would agree with that.
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  You know, there are certain pieces
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  that you can tell that the composer worked
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  for a long time really hard on a piece.
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  So there are other pieces that are also great
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  that the composer, we know throughout history
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  that someone sort of inspired and writes feverishly
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  and really composes a big piece rather quickly.
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  This piece is a labor of love,
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  I think not only for the composer,
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  but also for the musicians on stage.
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  It's a large, difficult work, but it's so very rewarding.
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  I think for the people performing on stage
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  and also for the listener as well.
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  And he did remark that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
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  inspired him.
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  I had not heard that quote before,
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  but that actually it's a very interesting
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  and I could see that, particularly in the first movement,
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  the way that this piece starts.
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  It's not with that same da-da-da-da melody of Beethoven.
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  It's not an exact quote, but the general feel,
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  especially at the opening of the first movement,
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  I could buy that,
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  that it was loosely inspired by Beethoven's Fifth.
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  After this showstopper, you have a community event
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  that has become a tradition.
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  So after Friday night, we have one more concert.
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  It's not part of our Masterworks or classical series,
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  but we do have one more concert of the year
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  that's really the final concert of our season every year,
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  which is the Jubilee Pops,
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  always on the Friday Memorial Day weekend.
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  This year, that's Friday, May 22nd.
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  We perform from the terrace
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  of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
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  So the orchestra is set up on the steps there
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  and people bring lawn chairs and picnic blankets
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  and many of them bring a picnic too.
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  And they sit out on the lawn of the archives
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  and also on the other side of Washington Avenue.
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  We have that block of Washington Avenue closed
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  and people sit over on the Capitol lawn as well.
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  And it's just a really wonderful night.
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  It's a wonderful way to sort of officially kick off summer
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  with that Memorial Day weekend.
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  I think it's gonna be a great time for everybody.
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  And it is a free concert as well.
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  And Ryan, this is a patriotic themed concert
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  and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday this year.
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  That's right, that's right.
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  We did another project back in February
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  that was also with the America 250.
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  In this case, we always play some patriotic music,
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  partly to honor Memorial Day weekend,
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  but also there'll be other music in there that,
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  for orchestras, we generally just think of it
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  as being a summer pops.
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  Music for movies, you're probably gonna hear
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  some John Williams scores in there.
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  You'll hear a couple of marches
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  and some other patriotic music.
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  And then just some other really fun pieces to listen to
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  mixed in there as well, a variety of different pieces.
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  You've given us a lot to look forward to.
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  So can you give us contact information
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  for your listeners to find out more?
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  That's right.
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  All of this information is on our website
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  at montgomerysymphony.org.
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  It's also a great idea to follow us on Facebook.
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  We post things and sometimes that helps
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  that information come to you,
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  but certainly all of it can be found
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  at montgomerysymphony.org.
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  There are also links on the website to purchase tickets
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  and get those, especially for Friday night.
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  This concert Friday night is gonna be really fantastic
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  and you really don't wanna miss it.
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  Well, Bryan, it has been a joy to visit with you.
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  As the listeners know, we usually talk
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  with Jamie, your brother,
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  but thank you for joining us today
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  as Executive Director of the Montgomery Symphony.
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  Absolutely.
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  I'm very happy to do it.
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  It was lovely talking with you, Carolyn,
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  and hope to talk with you again soon.
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  That was Bryan Reeves, Executive Director
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  of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra
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  with a preview of Spring's upcoming concerts.
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  More information at the montgomerysymphony.org website.
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  Thanks for joining us today for In Focus.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson,
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  and this is a listener supported Troy Public Radio.