Cambridge Symphony Orchestra to offer live music and ballet

The Cambridge Symphony Orchestra will perform a new staging of Mendelssohn’s incidental music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with choreography by Gianni Di Marco. The performance will also include Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé by Ravel and a Fanfare for Brass by Philip Sawyers. The performance will be conducted by Music Director Cynthia Woods and will take place on Saturday, June 16 at 8pm at Kresge Auditorium at MIT, 48 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139.

Following a successful collaboration in 2016 with Stravinsky’s The Firebird, conductor Cynthia Woods and choreographer Gianni (Gino) Di Marco are thrilled to be working together on another staging, this time of Mendelssohn’s lighthearted incidental music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The semi-staged performance will include the full Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, elevated out of the pit and onto center stage, an ensemble of approximately 10 dancers, two vocal soloists, and the 33-member New England Conservatory Young Women’s Chorale.

The performance will open with Philip Sawyers’ bold Fanfare for Brass (2016) and Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé before turning to the Mendelssohn in the second half.

Woods says, “During our last collaboration, Gino and I were thrilled by the response from the audience and the orchestra members. We wanted to work together again, and knew that the Mendelssohn would be an ideal fit to combine dance and live music. This performance will be a perfect introduction to spring and summer, and we are looking forward to bringing Gino’s inventive choreography to the stage.”

The presentation of ballet with live orchestra—let alone an 80-piece, symphonic ensemble—has been historically limited in New England. Moreover, ballet companies usually situate the orchestra in the pit, relegating the music to an accompanimental role. In this performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the music and staging allow for a tightly integrated artistic partnership between sound and movement—portraying music as a lived, embodied experience.

Di Marco adds, “The choreography will be true to the balletic elements of the original incidental music performed by the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. The addition of dance to the symphonic performance will add another layer of artistry and enhance the experience for the audience.”

The vocal soloists, sopranos Vira Slywotzky and Joanna Porackova, along with the New England Conservatory’s Young Women’s Chorale (directed by Jonathan Richter), will add a lively flair and bring the fairy world to life.

Costumes will be designed by Ruth Whitney, who is also dancing Titania, with a nod to the tradition of ballet from the time the piece was written. The dancers, soloists, and chorus will all be costumed, adding to the whimsical and immersive experience.

Tickets range from $15 to $25 and may be purchased by visiting cambridgesymphony.org.