UMD Symphony Orchestra Presents Britten's LES ILLUMINATIONS Tonight

The University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra (UMSO) brings Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations, Op. 18 to life tonight, March 9 at 8pm in the Clarice Smith Center's Dekelboum Concert Hall.

In addition to movement and costumes, Les Illuminations will feature set design by Doug Fitch, projections by Tim McLoraine and the tenor of School of Music faculty member, Gran Wilson.

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 7 will be performed in the second half of the concert.

Based on a suite of prose poems by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854 ­- 1891), Les Illuminations conveys a general process of growth and discovery rather than a specific story: a sensitive person encounters the world, struggles to find his place and to separate fantasy from reality, and emerges from the trial stronger and more confident. The music is bright, exuberant, and fast-paced.

Les Illuminations also features an original light presentation that designer Doug Fitch termed a "magical box of stream of consciousness." Projectionist Tim McLoraine notes, "This box is made of two projection surfaces, one behind and one in front of tenor Gran Wilson. By placing the tenor in between two projections, we can create worlds which he will inhabit. Given the surrealistic style of Rimbaud's poetry, the worlds created by the imagery will be at times realistic but more often conceptual. And each of the individual poem settings will be portrayed with its own unique visual 'language.'"