Ode to Humanity: Beethoven’s 9th and López’s Monarch
June 5, 2027: 7:30 PM
June 6, 2027: 2 PM
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Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, 2 p.m.
Rafael Payare, conductor
Tasha Hokuao Koontz, soprano
Nikola Printz, mezzo-soprano
Viktor Antipenko, tenor
Hansung Yoo, baritone
JIMMY LÓPEZ: Symphony No. 6, "Monarch"
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, “Choral”
Two symphonies – one newly written, one timeless – come together in a celebration of nature, humanity, and hope.
Peruvian born composer and San Diego Symphony Composer in Residence Jimmy López draws inspiration from the natural world that unites the Americas along the Pacific coast. In his Symphony No. 6, he turns to one of nature’s most wondrous phenomena: the migration of monarch butterflies. López transforms their journey into sound—a vivid meditation on transformation, endurance, and the fragile harmony between life and environment.
The program culminates with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a work that forever changed the symphonic form with its visionary finale setting of Friedrich Schiller’s "Ode to Joy." Written in defiance of personal struggle, the work transcends boundaries of time and culture, uniting orchestra, chorus, and audience in a single voice of exaltation. Its words and music – celebrating joy, brotherhood, and freedom – remain an anthem of shared humanity.
Together, these two symphonies embody an unbroken continuum: López’s reflection on nature’s resilience and Beethoven’s immortal affirmation of the human spirit. In both, we are reminded of music’s power to lift us beyond division and reconnect us to wonder.
