Chicago Sinfonietta plays on NCC stage

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Updated: November 30, 2011 12:36AM

A world-renown musician is performing a string of post-retirement dates, including one at North Central College.

When the Chicago Sinfonietta opens its 2011-2012 season at North Central College with “As Fate Would Have It,” a concert blending eastern and western musical traditions, it will be joined by acclaimed guest harpist Ann Hobson Pilot.

The performance begins at 8 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Wentz Concert Hall and marks the first subscription concert by new music director Mei-Ann Chen.

The professional orchestra is in residence at Wentz Concert Hall this year, which will be the regular west suburban venue.

“Mei-Ann Chen is an absolute burgeoning superstar in the classical music world. She is an absolutely riveting and exciting performer on the podium,” said the orchestra’s executive director, Jim Hirsch.

Speaking of bangs, Hirsch teased a surprise in the concert.

“Given the symphony’s history of innovative programming, don’t be surprised if something unexpected happens,” he said.

Coming to no surprise to him is the grace and aplomb with which Chen has handled the new position of music director.

“Mei-Ann recognizes she is following a legendary persona in classical world, and has handled the transition with the utmost graciousness, and I think part of the reason for that is the incredible affection she has for (former music director) Paul Freeman,” he said.

“Saibei Dance,” composed by An-Lun Huang, is inspired by the unique folk music of the Saibei region in northwest China, and from the composer’s perspective of experiencing the Cultural Revolution in that country, he said.

The piece, written by famed composer John Williams, is called “On Willows and Birches,” and was written expressly for Pilot in 2009.

She will also perform on William Grant Still’s “Ennanga” — the only work he composed for harp.

“We selected that because of the orchestra’s commitment to diversity and inclusion,” he said. “It was fate that brought her to becoming a harpist in a field where basically African Americans had no opportunities whatsoever.”

Finally, the concert will close with one of the great master works of classical music, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

“It’s known as the Fate Symphony. The first iconic four notes were Beethoven’s question about the future of the world and the universe,” he said.

“The Sinfonietta tries to present concerts that are one-of-a-kind experiences. We want to perform a piece of standard repertoire at the highest levels that people will hear, and also to perform pieces that people would not expect to hear an orchestra perform. We hope audience shares our curiosity about many different types of music and many different styles.”