TOGO

A new concert overture for symphony orchestra.

The concert overture had its premiere at the Lunds Stadshall in Lund, Sweden on Sunday February 11th. The orchestra Lunds Stadsorkester was conducted by Andreas Lönnqvist.

About

The inspiration for Togo came as a surprise while I was watching a documentary on BBC. There I found the incredible story of the fearless sled dog, Togo, who with the musher Seppala and the rest of the dog sled team brought a much needed serum to save Nome, a small town in Alaska, from a diphtheria epidemic which was killing the local population.

The circumstances could hardly have been more challenging. At one point the team crossed the open ice of the Norton Sound as it broke up underfoot during a night time storm. The temperature had dropped to minus 40 C.

After the ‘Serum Run to Nome’, the dog Balto became the most famous canine of the run. However, he was in fact the back up dog, with Togo covering the longest and most hazardous leg.
Therefore I thought it was about time that Togo got the fame he deserved!

Read more about Togo and the serum run here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo_(dog)

I wrote the concert overture in order to depict the drama of the serum run, and also the astonishing beauty of the frozen subarctic landscape, as well as the triumph of the delivery of the life saving serum on time.

The concert overture is written for full symphony orchestra, is about 9 minutes long and had its premiere at the Lunds Stadshall in Lund, Sweden on Sunday February 11th 6pm. The orchestra Lunds Stadsorkester was conducted by Andreas Lönnqvist.