Since coming to St. Louis in 2013, Shannon Wood has made his mark both as principal timpanist with the St. Louis Symphony and as an active local composer. In 2014, his composition “Oort Cloud,” inspired by icy bodies in the outer solar system, made its St. Louis debut at the 560 Music Center at Washington University in St. Louis.
At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, Wood will return to the 560 Music Center with a new, as-yet-untitled quartet for English horn, pianoforte, cello and timpani. The jazz-influenced work, which Wood wrote largely during a month-long stay in Sicily, seeks to capture the rhythms and flavors of life on the Mediterranean island.
The premiere will come as part of “Symphony in Your College,” a free concert presented by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences and the St. Louis Symphony’s Community Partnership program. Also on the concert will be works by Paul Hindemith, Carlos Surinach, Johannes Brahms and Astor Piazzolla.
Performers include Wood and pianist Seth Carlin, professor of music, along with two of Wood’s symphony colleagues: cellist Alvin McCall and English horn player Cally Banham.
The E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall is in the 560 Music Center, located at 560 Trinity Ave. in University City. For more information, call 314-935-5566 or email daniels@wustl.edu.
