Now you can relive the excitement of the Mount St. Helens eruption without choking on the smoke.
This Thursday, the Eugene Symphony will premiere “Nature,” a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the famed Mount St. Helens eruption.
“Nature” will feature guest conductor Takao Kanayama in a multi-part performance that explores an array of emotions and interactions associated with the volcano’s monumental eruption.
The symphony will also feature Kristen Halay on flute. Halay has been playing the flute since age eight. She is currently the principle flute player for the Eugene Symphony, Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera, and the Oregon Festival of American Music, according to the Eugene Symphony Web site.
Seattle composer Alan Hovhaness will recreate the events surrounding the eruption, featuring his own music as well as movements produced by other composers.
Other compositions featured include Beethoven’s “Pastorale,” which opens the concert. Hovhaness’ symphony “Mount St. Helens,” and a flute concerto by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu are also featured. Haley is featured soloist.
The symphony’s second movement, “Spirit Lake,” attempts to capture the beauty of the mountain’s lake with “gently vibrating, liquid-sounding bells and expressive melodies for English horn and other solo winds,” according to the Eugene Symphony Web site.
After the more intense movements are completed, the dawn hymn returns in what Hovhaness describes as “a hymn of praise to the youthful power and grandeur of the Cascades, the volcanic energy renewing the vitality of our beautiful planet, the life-giving power that builds mountains, rising majestically, piercing the clouds of heaven.”
Guest conductor Kanayama and featured soloist Halay will host an informal talk and performance highlights after the show.
“Nature” premiers at 8 p.m. today at the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall. Tickets are $12-36 and $10 for students and youth concert goers.
Tickets are available at Hult Center Box Office, 682-5000, and at the EMU Ticket Outlet.