By CLIFTON J. NOBLE, JR.
Date published: 2/7/2002
You know the sensation you get when you drive over the brow of a hill and the most breathtaking natural vista you've ever seen unfolds before your eyes? In awestruck silence, you simply have to pull over and marvel.
David Kidwell's Shenandoah: A Symphonic Portrait captures that feeling in music. Memories of childhood visits to the Shenandoah National Park and photos taken on recent returns to the area have inspired the 33-year-old composer and conductor of the Holyoke Civic Symphony to plumb the essence of the beloved folksong Oh Shenandoah and fashion a deeply moving orchestral essay in the tradition of the most profoundly evocative American music.
Kidwell will lead his HCS players in the world premiere of Shenandoah..., commissioned by the symphony, on Sunday afternoon in the Holyoke Community College Forum. The concert also includes Rachmaninoff's towering Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor with internationally renowned pianist and Mount Holyoke College faculty member Gary Steigerwalt as soloist.
In five seasons, Kidwell has made an indelible mark on the 35-year-old Holyoke Civic Symphony, engendering increasing levels of commitment and capability with each year of his tenure.
Kidwell was raised in a music-loving family in Virginia, where he played piano, organ, trumpet, and violin. He holds a bachelor's degree in music from Mary Washington College in Virginia and a master's degree in composition from the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut. He has studied conducting at the Tanglewood Music Center, the South Carolina Conductors Institute, and privately with Melvin Strauss.
Kidwell has been extremely active in music theater throughout the Pioneer Valley, directing over 50 musical performances, guest conducting several area ensembles including the Pioneer Valley Symphony and Chorus and the Old Post Road Orchestra.
