Austin didn’t do much to mark the recent centenaries of Kurt Weill, Aaron Copland, Richard Rodgers, or William Walton, and it looks as if we’ll let the 100-year birth anniversaries of Marc Blitzstein and Harold Arlen in 2005 pass without fanfare, but we’ve got Shostakovich covered! The Russian composer passes the century mark in 2006, and a full 15 area arts organizations are working together to commemorate the occasion with performances, lectures, symposiums, perspectives, and art exhibitions. Austin Lyric Opera Artistic Director Richard Buckley is at the head of this effort, which has already been a year in the planning, and his company will launch the festivities – officially known as Shostakovich 100: Austin Celebrates – with a staging of the composer’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Jan. 7-15 in Bass Concert Hall. Maestro Buckley will conduct, Ken Cazan (Elektra) returns as stage director, and Carol Vaness, who wowed the locals in Tosca, is back to tackle the role of Katerina. From there, we’ll enjoy a full 12 months of Shostakovich symphonies, concertos, chamber pieces, and music for opera, dance, and films, from the likes of A. Mozart Fest, Austin Chamber Music Center, Austin Children’s Choir, Austin Civic Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Ballet Austin, Chamber Soloists of Austin, Conspirare, Golden Hornet Project, Johnson/Long Dance Company, Tosca String Quartet, UT Austin, Texas State University, and Southwestern University. The Web site www.shostakovich100.org will serve as information central for the festival. It doesn’t have much on it yet, but you’ll want to bookmark it for future reference.
This article appears in March 18 • 2005.