Göteborgs Konserthus University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) Overture to La gazza ladra Gioacchino Rossini was born in Pesaro south of Rimini and became a star in the 19th century opera world. The audience appreciated his playful, easy to hum melodies. La gazza ladra (The thieving magpie) was the opera that turned his slightly reluctant start at La Scala in Milan into a success in the spring of 1817. The plot is taken from a French play and revolves around a servant girl who is accused of theft. The opening drum rolls signal the seriousness. But the stolen goods are eventually found in a treasure chest and everything has a happy ending. The majestic overture is the most famous part from the opera and was used, among other things, in the film A Clockwork Orange.

Emilie Mayer (1812-1883) Faust-Ouverture "Such a divine talent as hers has not been bestowed upon any other person I know!" That's what the German composer Carl Loewe said about Emelie Mayer. Her first two symphonies were both premiered in Stettin and the success was even greater when she came to Berlin. There, it was mainly in private homes that her music was played, but in 1850 a public concert was given at the Royal Theater with exclusively Emelie Mayer's compositions. She became popular with critics and audiences alike and followed her works to the cities where they were performed; Cologne, Munich, Lyon, Brussels and Vienna. As a composer, she was versatile and prolific. Eight symphonies, 15 concert overtures, lots of music for piano, voice, violin and more. She worked hard but was also happy to help others, for example by giving composition lessons to other women herself.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Concerto for two pianos and orchestra Allegro ma non troppo - Larghetto - Allegro molto The French Francis Poulenc already became successful early on, and the debut works from his late teens were played throughout his life. Much of his early output came to be characterized by humor and play with influences from cabaret and jazz, as well as from colleagues such as Offenbach. The double concerto for piano was written in 1932 when his patron thought that Poulenc and his pianist friend, Jacques Fevrier, deserved to appear at a festival in Venice. Poulenc used impulses from both Mozart and Stravinsky with marked percussion elements. The friends Poulenc and Fevrier recorded the concert themselves.

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) The Three-cornered Hat Introduction - Afternoon - Dance of the Miller's Wife (Fandango) - The Grapes The Neighbour's Dance - The Miller's Dance - The Corregidor's Dance - Final Dance Manuel de Falla is a bit of an odd bird in early 20th century music and is seen as the most prominent Spanish composer of the period. His output is small and revolves largely around music for the stage, mainly two ballets: El amor brujo (The Enchanting Love), famous for the ritual fire dance, and the sumptuous El sombrero de tres picos (The three-cornered hat) premiered in 1919. The music, which tells the story of a love drama, throws itself between Iberian folk dances and the modern influences of the time from Debussy and Ravel. The influential director of the Ballet Russes, Sergei Diaghilev, was the client and the premiere took place in London.

The core of the orchestra is students of the two-year international master's program in symphonic orchestra playing at the University of Gothenburg University. The training is unique in its kind and is conducted in collaboration with the Gothenburg Symphony and the Gothenburg Opera. The orchestra projects also include students from the bachelor's program in classical music, a three-year program where the students focuses on chamber music playing and individual development on their instrument. Sometimes students from other music colleges are invited to participate and complement the orchestra. The artistic director of the University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra is Henrik Schaefer. Each academic year, the University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra performs eight orchestral productions with a total of around 15 public concerts. Internationally well-known conductors and soloists are engaged for these. Recently, Anja Bihlmaier, Eva Ollikainen, ShaoChia Lü, Olaf Henzold, Patrik Ringborg, Tobias Ringborg, Michel Tabachnik and Steven Sloane have been guests of the orchestra. Among the soloists are pianists Roland Pöntinen and Christian Zacharias, violinists Malin Broman and Antje Weithaas, trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth and singer Kristina Hansson. The orchestra also collaborates every year with the opera education at the University of Stage and Music. The University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra is an ambassador for the University of Gothenburg, supporting the concert and tour activities.

Italian conductor Daniela Musca has been a recurring conductor at Side by Side since 2020. In the 2022-2023 season, she has appeared with the symphony orchestras in both Malmö, Turkku and Luxemburg, as well as with the Wermland Opera in Karlstad, the Stockholm Wind Orchestra and Östgötamusiken. In 2021, she made her debut at the Royal Opera in Stockholm with Rigoletto. She has conducted orchestras including the Gothenburg Symphony, Norrköping Symphony, Trondheim Symphony, Casco Phil, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Würzburg Philharmonic and Oulu Sinfonia. Born in Rome, she studied piano and chamber music at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, followed by a master's degree at Basel Music Academy. In 2006 she moved to Berlin to study orchestral conducting at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule. In 2017 she was a semi-finalist at the Georg Solti Conducting Competition in Frankfurt. As an assistant conductor she has worked at the Staatsoper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Salzburg Festival.