The guitarist Jiji weaves a spell with six strings, and you can hear her perform this weekend with the San Antonio Philharmonic in a program that includes a concerto for guitar and orchestra, plus music by Carl Maria von Weber and Johannes Brahms.
“I think the audience is going to really get a kick out of the variety,” said conductor Anthony Parnther, who’ll be at the podium on Friday and Saturday night for the pair of concerts. “We’re opening up with… the ‘Euryanthe’ Overture by Carl Maria von Weber—an opera that’s not often performed in America.”
Parnther turned to Jiji with a smile to say, “I’m looking forward to my first collaboration with Jiji on Hilary Purrington’s exciting guitar concerto, the ‘Harp of Nerves.’”
Jiji said the concerto was written for her by Purrington, who used to be one of her eight (!) roommates.
“We realized if we can live together with eight roommates, and we didn’t kill each other, then we’ll work really well together,” Jiji joked.
Referencing the work’s title, Jiji explained that the guitar acts as the heart of the orchestra, as “the central nervous system of the orchestra. So whatever you do, the orchestra starts to kind of mimic [it], and you control the sounds.”
The concert’s anchor is Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, a piece that composer Clara Schumann once described as like “watching worshipers in a woodland shrine, [where] there is a bustle and whispering about.”
The concerts take place this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Hall, at 308 Ave. E.
Listen to Jiji perform live in our studio using the audio player at the top of this page... including one of her own compositions, inspired by ice cream from Baskin-Robbins!
