ROCO’s In Concert series, which features the full 40-piece orchestra and live-streamed performances, kicked off September 22, 2018 with the world premiere of Maxime Goulet’s Checkmate, a chess game for piano and orchestra based on the legendary 1996 match where IBM’s “Deep Blue” computer defeated reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov. The piano part (played by the singular Lara Downes) represents Kasparov while the orchestra plays the part of Deep Blue. ROCO principals, Kristin Wolfe Jensen, bassoon, and Nathan Williams, clarinet, were the featured soloists on Mendelssohn’s Concert Piece No. 1 in F minor, op. 113. Conductor Paul Watkins, cellist with the Emerson String Quartet, led the program (which also included a piece from his brother, British composer Huw Watkins). Martinů’s Sinfonietta La Jolla rounded out the program.

Click here to see who performed on this concert.