ROCO In Concert: "Gitcha Groove On!" @ Miller

Rick Robinson, composer

Conductor Andrés Cárdenes returns to open ROCO’s In Concert series – featuring the full 40-piece River Oaks Chamber Orchestra — with performances of a program titled “Gitcha Groove On!” September 26th , 2015 at St. John the Divine, and September 27th, 2015 at Miller Outdoor Theater.

Pairing disparate musical styles like jazz and classical, “Gitcha Groove On!” takes its name from ROCO’s 44th world premiere commission of the same name by Rick Robinson (in his ROCO debut). It’s a jazz-infused classical commission for the full orchestra plus trapset, the product of ROCO winning the New Music Box and ASCAP “Music Alive” Partnership award.

Cardénes has chosen to pair this piece with José Pablo Moncayo’s “Huapango,” a chamber orchestra piece based on folk songs from the composer’s native Mexico, and both Robinson and Moncayo have written pieces rooted in their respective heritages. Poulenc’s “Sinfonietta” and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Much Ado About Nothing” complete the program.