Our program in January is a tribute to scenes aquatic. With contrasting views of earth’s most precious element, we offer Debussy’s sonic tour-de-force in La Mer set against American Tobias Picker’s gentle Old and Lost Rivers. Each movement of Debussy’s seascape reveals the majesty and power of the sea as it can be represented in a myriad of orchestral colors. Picker’s take on two, converging bayous in Texas unfolds slowly, beautifully, with notes evaporating as if in the hot morning sun. Handel’s Water Music will begin our second half, and it is not so much a depiction of the sea is it is music to be played on the water itself. No, not tunes a gondolier might sing on the canals of Venice, but a boisterous, joyful noise to accompany old King George’s cruise along the Thames. Lest things get too soggy, we are happy to feature our own talented concertmaster, Ken Johnston, in Mozart’s delightful and sunny Violin Concerto no. 1.