By Abbey Salvemini
When the South Shore Symphony takes the stage on Jan. 31 at their Madison Theatre home, on the Molloy University campus, the evening represents more than a single stop in its season. It reflects the orchestra’s artistic transformation under the leadership of esteemed conductor Adam Glaser, now in his third year as music director.
Since he took the helm of the South Shore Symphony (from former Music Director Scott Jackson Wiley) he’s continued to foster connections with its musicians and shape a shared artistic identity. He describes his group as “a community of friends and musicians who are always striving for excellence,” and says the experience has been both energizing and collaborative.
An established composer, Glaser — whose prolific career includes roles as Music Director of the professional-caliber Juilliard Pre-College Orchestras and Director of Orchestras and Associate Professor of Music at Hofstra University — brings his keen musicality to this concert, titled “Metamorphosis.” Programmed around the time-honored musical form of “theme and variations,” the repertoire highlights how composers begin with a simple musical idea and reshape it in inventive, surprising and often dazzling ways.
“[They] are all unique in their own way, but they are presented together because they all share a common theme,” Glaser says.
This fascinating program unites four works from the 19th and 20th centuries, each offering its own take on the theme and variations form. It opens with the “Wedding March” from Karl Goldmark’s Rustic Wedding Symphony.
“While I would rarely excerpt one movement from a symphony, in this case, it is just brilliant as its own piece,” Glaser explains.
The concert’s centerpiece is a world premiere: the full orchestral version of Glaser’s own “Passacaglia.” Originally written in 2018 for a high school string orchestra in New Jersey, the piece has now been expanded to include a full orchestra — involving winds, brass and percussion.
As Glaser explains, the passacaglia is a type of continuous variation built over a repeating bass line, a form that dates back centuries.
“Among the many musical interests I enjoy exploring over lunch with my colleague Jim Millar, the Brahms symphonies constantly rise to the top, particularly the final movement of the Fourth Symphony, an orchestral passacaglia. When accepting Jim’s commission for a new work to be performed by the highly advanced orchestra he leads in beautiful Tenafly, I chose the passacaglia form for inspiration and structure,” he continues.
Glaser adds that his time with the South Shore Symphony inspired him to revisit the piece, allowing him to reimagine its full expressive possibilities.
“Since 2018, I have often felt that the string orchestra version of Passacaglia packed a lot of material into a relatively compact canvas, and wondered if the underlying composition might warrant an expansion that embraces all instrument families. Inspired by my new “musical family,” I am pleased to dedicate this new version to my friends in the orchestra and honored to conduct the premiere. This new version makes a few subtle references to a five-note musical signature derived from Rockville Centre’s zip code, 11570.”
Glaser acknowledges that conducting works by other composers presents its own challenges, requiring a balance between honoring the composer’s intentions and bringing his own interpretive insight to the music.
“Our job [as the conductor] is to be an advocate for the composer, but we only have notes on a page,” he says.
The evening’s second half celebrates musical reinvention with Korngold’s “Theme and Variations, Op. 42.” In seven short minutes, it delivers the sweeping melodies and lavish orchestration that earned Korngold his reputation for “Hollywood sound.”
“[Theme and Variations] takes it to the highest level possible,” Glaser says, pointing out that audiences will recognize the Hollywood influence in the brief composition.
The concert closes with Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes” by Carl Maria von Weber, a piece that literally transforms Weber’s melodies into a bold, rhythmically vibrant orchestral adventure — bringing the program’s title of “Metamorphosis” full circle.
“[Symphonic Metamophosis] is such a brilliant example of how a composer can take a small amount of material and spin so many wonderful variations from it,” Glaser enthuses.
Beyond the individual works, he sees “Metamorphosis” as a symbol of the South Shore Symphony’s evolving journey.
This concert offers the audience both familiarity and discovery: beloved repertoire alongside brand-new works, all connected by a single unifying idea. For Glaser, it is an opportunity to begin shaping the orchestra’s future while honoring its past.
The season continues with a trio of exciting performances in the months ahead. Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit joins the South Shore Symphony on March 8 for an evening of rich, lyrical storytelling. Later that month, on March 28, the orchestra tackles Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” promising a thrilling display of rhythm and energy. The season concludes on May 29 with their annual concert at St. Agnes Cathedral, uniting powerful voices and orchestra for Beethoven’s monumental “Ninth Symphony.
With “Metamorphosis,” the orchestra invites concertgoers to experience music as a living, evolving art form — where familiar melodies are reborn, new works take flight and the orchestra’s journey of transformation continues under Glaser’s inspired leadership.
