In the spirt of the fifth annual ArtPrize competition, the Grand Rapids Symphony presents "Inspired By Art." The concert is the Crowe Horwath MusicNOW series opener for the 2014-15 Season.

Grand Rapids Symphony Associate Conductor John Varineau will lead the orchestra at Peter Martin Wege Theatre on Saturday, October 4, 8:00 p.m. The concert was curated by composer Adam Schoenberg, who used social media to solicit submissions of new music inspired by paintings, sculptures and film. He quickly received 42 submissions, of which three were chosen for the program.

"I wanted to be open-minded and fair when curating the concert, and felt that social media would reach the greatest number of composers, many of whom I didn’t even know," said Schoenberg. "Facebook seemed to be the best source for reaching the most people."

The program opens with Clint Needham’s Earth and Green. The composition is inspired by Mark Rothko’s painting by the same title, a piece that exemplifies the abstract expressionist’s peak period.

Chris Cerrone’s High Windows follows. This beautiful piece was composed for string orchestra and is inspired by several artistic pieces.

Ray Lustig’s Suspension is inspired by the majestic bridges of his home, New York City. Growing up in Queens, Lustig’s psyche formed around New York’s many bridges, "[those] mysterious goliaths that are at once splendid yet gritty, mighty yet rust-eaten, silent yet thundering, terrifying yet comforting."

The program concludes with Schoenberg’s own composition, Picture Studies.

Tickets start at $26 and are available at the Symphony office, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 300 Ottawa NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616.454.9451 x 4. Tickets are available by phone in the evening and on the weekend by calling 616.885.1241. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.) Tickets are available at the DeVos Place Box Office, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets may also be purchased through Ticketmaster.

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