A preview of the Downey Symphony's concert Saturday

DOWNEY — “I chose the pieces for the upcoming October concert,” said Sharon Lavery, “After I heard Strauss Shi perform the Waxman Fantasie at USC, I was completely blown away by his performance.”

“I asked him what would pair well with that piece,” said Sharon, who is Music Director and Conductor for the Downey Symphonic Society. “And as soon as he suggested the Tchaikovsky Valse-Scherzo, I knew it would be great to pair that with one of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies for the second half of the program.”

The evening will begin with Brahms’s Academic Festive Overture, and Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie, but after that it’s all Tchaikovsky. First comes a triumphant blast of sound from the University of Breslau. Brahms had sent the University a little “thank-you” postcard when they wanted to confer an honorary degree on him, but apparently this wasn’t really enough. A friend told Brahms that the University actually expected him to return the gesture by writing a piece of music for them.

So, the Brahms’s opening piece is a fun medley of rowdy student songs. Who would have expected from the staid title such an emotionally searing work that demands such technical proficiency?

The Carmen Fantasie that follows is not only a virtuoso showstopper for violin and orchestra, but composer Waxman won an Academy Award nomination with it, for Best Music Scoring for the 1946 movie Humoresque. It is dedicated to Jascha Heifetz and was performed in the movie by the young Isaac Stern. Impressive credentials to live up to.

Strasuss Shi, the violinist who will solo in both pieces, graduated from the Juilliard School of Music and is now is a Thornton Masters of Music student. Maestro Sharon is Resident Conductor of the USC Thornton Orchestras and teaches Instrumental Conducting at SC’s Thornton School of Music.

Now that we have an insight into Music Director Sharon’s connections, we can see how the pieces at the Oct. 19 Downey Symphony’s opening concert of the season at the Downey Theatre combine to show off the extraordinary soloist’s talents.

The Valse-Scherzo in C Major, with its dazzling flourish of a cadenza at the end, only takes about six minutes to perform, and while short, it makes great technical demands on the violin soloist. The waltz becomes a vehicle for young Strauss Shi, with abundant double-stops and other virtuoso fireworks.

The musical evening, which kicks off the Downey Symphony’s Subscription Concert Season, is called Passport to Passion for good reason. The big piece of the evening will be Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony in F minor.

Tchaikovsky describes the opening fanfare as “Fate, the fatal power which hinders one in the pursuit of happiness.”

Compare that with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with its ‘V’ opening motif, that means fate is knocking at the door, and was used by the Allies in World War II to signify victory. The “basic difference” from the famed Beethoven work, Tchaikovsky explained, is that his own ominous opening fanfare, stridently sounded by horns and bassoons, represents fate hanging over one’s head like a sword.

Tchaikovsky, however, explores sadness.

“One mourns the past,” he said, “and has neither the courage nor the will to begin a new life.”

The second movement is introduced by the melancholy melody of the oboe, the passionate climax a reminder of the grieving phrases of the opening movement.

In the third movement, the pizzicato figures in the scherzo have been described as “capricious arabesques, vague figures, which slip into the imagination when one has taken wine and is slightly intoxicated: military music is heard passing in the distance.”

Like the first movement, the Finale bursts forth with a blaze of sound. Marked Allegro con fuoco (with fire), the music races by. Abruptly, fate returns and the symphony continues with barely controlled frenzy, accented by cymbal crashes.

The profoundly personal symphony ends with a folk music motif, a positive life force that cannot be suppressed.

Tchaikovsky ended his program notes with the words, “Rejoice in the happiness of others and you can still live.”

Good seats are still available for the 8 pm concert. An art show, curated for the Downey Arts Coalition by Pat Gil, will be on display from 6:30 pm in the lobby.

Come early and because of the construction at the Civic Center and Plaza, expect to park at the Downey High School lot across Brookshire.

Visit downeytheatre.org/tickets/ to purchase tickets or call the Box Office at (562) 861-8211.