Redwood Symphony performs niche arrangements

The evening will open with a piece, “Kauyumari,” composed by Gabriela Ortiz and conducted by Redwood Symphony’s Assistant Conductor Kyle Baldwin.

To the Mexican indigenous Huichol people, Kauyumari means blue deer, which represents a spiritual guide that is transformed through a pilgrimage, according to program notes by Ortiz. This performance piece is “kind of Bolero-like,” Kujawsky said, and repeats one theme that progressively gets louder.

“The audience will love that. There’s lots of percussion and a Latin feel to it,” Kujawsky said.

Continuing on a Latin American theme, the second performance will be a harp concerto composed by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera and performed by Anna Maria Mendieta. Mendieta is a renowned soloist known for pioneering performances of Argentine Tango music on the harp.

“This is considered by many the harp concerto,” Kujawsky said. “It’s very difficult and uniquely uses the instrument.”

The climax of the program will be the performance of Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 5, what Kujawsky refers to as a “sinfonietta” meaning little symphony.

The piece originated as a string quintet that will be performed by a full orchestra. The piece to be performed Saturday was arranged by the late South African composer Peter Kaltzow, who reimagined Brahms’ piece for an orchestral performance.

“With numerous transformations and inversions of the main themes, a complex fugato in the middle and an all-out fun romp at the end, it invites the audience to demolish the social barrier between highbrow and lowbrow music,” according to program notes.

The sinfonietta’s ability to blur lines between the highbrow and lowbrow echoes the mission of Redwood Symphony.

Kujawsky founded the company in 1985 specifically for amateur performers to have the ability to perform more complex and high-caliber pieces and for “jaded musicians tired of doing the same old.”

“These pieces are considered too difficult for amateur groups, and for us to do a [Gustav] Mahler symphony that’s considered a heavy lift, but we do it,” Kujawsky said. “That’s our niche.”

Redwood Symphony is not run like a professional orchestra, Kujawsky said. While putting on a great performance is always the goal, the focus is far more on making it fun for the performers and building a community to share music together.

“When you’re not paying players, what do you have to offer? Repertoire they can’t get with other orchestras and meeting lovely people,” Kujawsky said.

The concert will take place at 6:45 p.m. Saturday at Cañada College. Visit www.redwoodsymphony.org to purchase tickets.