Stefan Cwik, composer

In The Sword in the Stone, a concerto for English horn and orchestra, composer Stefan Cwik uses the solo instrument as the “voice” of Merlyn the wizard, leading the way for magical adventures with talking animals and daring knights as he educates the future King Arthur in this famous story.

“The first thing I thought of with ‘The Sword in the Stone’ is that it has to be light, because the English horn is not a loud instrument,” he said, describing Merlyn’s voice as “low and lyrical, can be seductive, but is not shimmery or pretty.”

The challenge, he said, was for the English horn and the orchestra to “have a conversation without the soloist being drowned out.”

Cwik, 29, is no stranger to Symphony Parnassus, which has premiered his Concert Dances for Orchestra, as well as his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. He has a degree in composition from San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in composition from the Juilliard School in New York, where he won the Juilliard Orchestral Competition for two consecutive years.

Originally from Chicago, Stefan came to San Francisco to study guitar performance at the conservatory, but found his true calling when he switched to composition. He cites influences such as Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Britten, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. He also likes a lot of American folk music, which finds its way into his compositions.

Though other members of his family played instruments, he is the first to have pursued a musical career. The son of a lawyer (his father), and a retired judge (his mother), Stefan said he feels fortunate that his parents valued education and encouraged his interest in music. He studied trumpet and guitar growing up. “I am lucky,” he said. “I got the extra push to do it, but no one ever had to make me practice. I always wanted to do it.”

Stefan Cwik, Stephen Paulson, and Russ deLuna discuss Cwik's English horn concerto during rehearsal

Russ deLuna, soloist

Russ deLuna, who performs the English horn solo in composer Stefan Cwik’s “The Sword in the Stone,” has been playing music since childhood, but his appearance with Symphony Parnassus marks several “firsts”: It is his first time working directly with a composer; his first time premiering a brand new work as soloist; and it is his first time as a soloist with conductor Stephen Paulson, his friend and fellow double-reed colleague at the San Francisco Symphony. 

“It’s fun to see (Steve) use his talents in a different way other than the bassoon,” Russ says. “It’s kind of a blast to watch him conduct. He’s a great musician.”

Russ calls Steve, principal bassoon with the Symphony, one of his “favorite players” in the orchestra, with whom he chats a lot about, well, music, but what else? Making reeds, a time-intensive side job and hobby for the double-reed players. The English horn, which is “not English, and not a horn,” Russ jokes, is the alto instrument of the oboe family.

English horn soloist Russ deLuna during rehearsal

He says he is excited to work with Cwik—also a colleague at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music—and is enjoying the process of being the first soloist to interpret the adventurous new piece in which, according to the composer, the English horn takes on the voice of Merlyn, the famed wizard of Arthurian legend.

“It’s so fun to know that I am the first to ever play it,” Russ said.      

Russ, a member of the San Francisco Symphony since 2007, occupies the Joseph and Pauline Scafidi Chair. He has appeared as soloist in such pieces as “Quiet City,” by Aaron Copland, and “The Swan of Tuonela” by Jean Sibelius. He played recently with the New York Philharmonic, and this summer, performs as a member of the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Matsumoto, Japan.