From a Carolina Crown press release: "Bohemia!" is a golden yet transient experience. It was a time and place where bold young artists and musicians spent their lives outside society, choosing penury, squalor and freedom over prosperity and convention. It is now more than ever an artistic and intellectual movement characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. It is this quote by author Allan Metz, "Artistic, youthful, unattached, inventive or suspect, Bohemian styles are reoccurring features of modern life,"and the Bohemian Oath, as stated in the film Moulin Rouge, "Freedom, beauty, truth and love" that simplifies the understanding of all that "Bohemia" conjures. The presentation begins with music from the late 19th century, a time when the Bohemian lifestyle first had it roots. The third and fourth movements of the symphonic poem "Ma vlast" ("My Fatherland") by Bedrich Smetana are used to celebrate the history and mythology of Bohemia. "La Boheme" by Puccini and Jonathon Larson's' "Seasons of Love," from the Broadway musical "Rent," bring together a bit of the old and new with the emotion of love and the passion of the artist in their struggle of expression. This segment concludes with an original percussion feature, "Beat Generation," based off the music of Thelonius Monk and poetry of Jack Kerouac, portraying the beatnik movement and the interaction of poem and percussion to portray this hip lifestyle. As the progression of time would have it and the continuation of living the avant-garde tradition, the final segment of the program looks to the eccentric antics of the 1980s rockers with "Bohemian Rhapsody," by Queen. This m?©lange of symphonic and rock styles, utilizing a timeless haunting melody, can only bring to mind the ending lyrics of this popular tune: "Nothing really matters, any way the wind blows," bringing the meaning of being "Bohemia" closer to the heart. It is with this final definition, "To emphasize the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary and the transcendental," that we look for you to experience "Bohemia!"