Henry Cheng conducts the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, January 25, 2025. (credit: Ken Ortloff)

JCSO’s ‘Heroes Among Us’ concert honors first responders with symphonic splendor

CONCERT REVIEW:
Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra
January 25, 2025
Mount Pisgah Church
Johns Creek, Georgia – USA

Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra; Henry Cheng, conductor; David Fung, piano.
Valerie COLEMAN: Seven O’Clock Shout for Orchestra
Edvard GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92

Howard Wershil | 31 JAN 2025

Symphony orchestras are wonderful. Sonic pleasure on a mammoth scale! We love their style, their professionalism, their panache, their breadth of expression, their vast palette of colors and textures offered to both composer and listener, their scope, their grandeur, and so much more. If you’re a true aficionado of the live symphonic sonic experience, all these factors are captivating.

Every symphony orchestra results from an individual with a vision. In the case of the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra (JCSO), this individual was J. Wayne Baughman, former music director of the JCSO, who founded the orchestra in 2007 and served as music director for the next 17 years.

In 2023, the JCSO was already faced with the challenge of finding a conductor and music director worthy to take the reins and drive the orchestra forward pending maestro Baughman’s retirement when Mr. Baughman tragically succumbed to a short battle with pancreatic cancer. In their search and deliberations, the JCSO Board of Directors narrowed their search to three distinguished individuals, each of whom has taken, or will take, the conductor’s podium in the JCSO’s 2024 – 2025 season.


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Last Saturday’s auspicious performance, Heroes Among Us: A Musical Tribute, showcased the talents of conductor Henry Cheng, as well as the formidable performance skills of pianist David Fung, noted for his poetic and expressive interpretations. For this special evening, we enjoy a contemporary work by Valerie Coleman, Seven O’Clock Shout; Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor; and Symphony No. 7 in A Major by Ludwig van Beethoven. Conductor Cheng provides us with his own program notes for the performances here. For this evening’s presentation, the JCSO offered complimentary tickets to our community’s own first-responders and healthcare workers and a 25% discount to their family members.

Valerie Coleman’s work, commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra to honor the sacrifice of frontline workers during COVID, was wonderfully performed by the JCSO and provided a marvelous introduction to the evening’s presentations. In a fanfare-traditional fashion, the music opens with a trumpet obbligato, adds kettledrum, then jubilantly brings the entire orchestra into play. Departing from the traditional, the piece proceeds with lyrical strings, ostinati, and overlapping melodies. The overall effect is one of calm serenity, with the familiarity of beautiful harmonies setting the mood. I found the musical style somehow very reminiscent of an Aaron Copeland approach, particularly that found in Appalachian Spring, but on a scale less grand and in a more updated, “hip” style. Hearing orchestra members provide claps and cheers midway through the piece was indeed a pleasant and effective surprise. The piece ended with a triumph more than worthy of the first responders being honored.

I’ve always found Edvard Grieg’s music so much more organic and down-to-earth than most music of his time. While much of his contemporaries might be regarded as striving to express a sense of ascension and transcendence, Grieg’s music speaks more of life and humanity, and meadows and lakes, while still retaining all those stylistic elements that define it as squarely belonging in the romantic era.

David Fung performs Grieg's 'Piano Concerto in A minor' with the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, January 25, 2025. (credit: Ken Ortloff)

David Fung performs Grieg’s ‘Piano Concerto in A minor’ with the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, January 25, 2025. (credit: Ken Ortloff)

Piano Concerto in A Minor, a popular concert standard by Edvard Grieg, was performed excellently, with the pianist exuding a particularly sensitive and polished approach to the score. The merging of pianist and orchestra was consistently seamless. Articulations on the part of both the pianist and the orchestra were precise and very well coordinated. Conductor Cheng seemed completely confident of his actions, appearing to be suitably caught up in that conductor’s rapture, which we imagine to be a prerequisite capability of any fine conductor of romantic era symphonic music.

The quite lyrical second movement of Grieg’s concerto offered the same presentation finesse as did the first, more than adequately showcasing the range of the conductor’s and performers’ flexibility. The performance of the third movement was equally magical. All in all, this was a truly honorable, spirited rendition of a gorgeous and perhaps underrated orchestral gem.

As a side comment, I do want to note that listening to a symphony orchestra live is substantially different than listening to a symphony orchestra recording. While a recording can accentuate and isolate different combinations of passages with a level of precision and clarity that may seem beneficial to some, yet artificial to others, the live experience offers so much more in terms of blend and texture. For me, it’s a much more “real” experience, one I hope many others will seek.


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Hopefully, there are not too many performance spaces remaining that follow a once-popular trend of designing their acoustics to emulate the dynamics of recorded music!

After the Grieg concluded, David Fung offered a brief encore. The splashy, nimble-fingered example amused the audience and more than adequately displayed the pianist’s high degree of expertise.

I was surprised to find that Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, particularly the first movement, challenged the skills of the JCSO quite a bit more than did the previous two selections. That said, the power and lyricism of Beethoven’s achievement still shined through, suggesting the ability of the conductor to provide the necessary guidance and expertise to draw maximum effort from his performers, allowing them to meet the challenge that this work might provide for any group of talented orchestra members.

Henry Cheng conducts the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, January 25, 2025. (credit: Ken Ortloff)

Henry Cheng conducts the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, January 25, 2025. (credit: Ken Ortloff)

The JCSO was far less challenged by the second movement, although I felt, instinctively, that it was executed at a bit too rapid a tempo. In fairness, my own musical sensibilities often want a rapid passage to be rendered a tiny bit faster, and a slower passage to be rendered a bit slower. In the case of the slower rendition, I always feel a deceleration will allow richer orchestral sonorities to emerge and time for a greater emotional connection to occur. The second movement clearly maintained the power and lyricism of the first, with soaring melodies nobly realized. But the ending of this movement was a bit abrupt.

As with the second movement, the third movement was also well-executed but somehow needed more depth and fervor and, like the first movement, tended to reveal the orchestra’s flaws, both rhythmically and melodically. There was the occasional misplaced horn note, the string passage with violins not completely in tune, and other such very occasional oddities. At this point, I found myself wondering if this specific piece was strategically chosen for scheduling in order to test the conductor’s abilities to excel under duress. A fanciful notion, perhaps. Perhaps not. Our current historical era is filled with fanciful notions, is it not?

But then, victory! With the performance of the fourth movement came extreme, supreme redemption! This movement was performed almost flawlessly, far more dynamically and exuberantly than the prior three movements, leaving us with a satisfying sense of completion and closure.


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This was a quite well-attended concert, with over half of the pews in a very large church populated with fans and supporters who clearly appreciated their engagement with the music. The acoustics of this ample space certainly did justice to the orchestra’s sound for audience members and orchestral performers alike.

I have nothing but admiration for the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. While every city deserves at least one prominent symphony orchestra, more populous metropolitan areas can so greatly benefit from the existence of several. Orchestras like the JCSO provide outreach and availability to those who, for whatever reason, be they financial or locational, are not frequent attendees of their most established symphony orchestra. Were there a few wrong notes and occasional rhythmic missteps? Perhaps. But within the context of the aesthetic opportunity offered and executed, it is a negligible consideration. I’ve heard wrong notes performed by The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, not to mention the Los Angeles Philharmonic – but that’s a story for another time. Does the JCSO substantially and professionally present to the public the spirit and intent of the music performed? Absolutely. Is the JCSO comprised of extremely talented local performers? No question about it.

Are you planning to attend their next concert, From Screen To Stage, Howard Hsu, conductor, on March 15, 2025, at 7:30 PM, at Mt. Pisgah Church? Well, I certainly hope so! For music lovers residing in or near Johns Creek, the splendor of the symphony is right around the corner.

For more information about the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra and its events, visit https://johnscreeksymphony.org

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About the author:
Howard Wershil is an Atlanta-based contemporary music composer interested in a wide variety of genres from classical to cinematic to new age to pop and rock and roll. You can find his music on Soundcloud and Bandcamp (howardwershil.bandcamp.com), and follow him on Facebook under Howard Wershil, Composer.

Read more by Howard Wershil.
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