The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the third concert in the 2014-2015 Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series: Beethoven and Blue Jeans. Beethoven’s iconic masterpiece, Symphony No. 5, is joined by returning virtuoso guitarist, Sharon Isbin. Ms. Isbin will perform ASO Composer of the Year John Corigliano’s Troubadors – Variations for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra. The concert takes place Saturday, November 8th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 9th at 3:00 p.m. at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center, 100 Victory Lane, Maumelle. The Masterworks Series is sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust.

American Airlines Concert Conversations – All concert ticket holders are invited to a pre-concert lecture an hour before each Masterworks concert. These talks feature insights from the Maestro and guest artists, and feature musical examples to enrich the concert experience.

Tickets are $19, $35, $49, and $58; active duty military and student tickets are $10 are can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at the ASO website.

PROGRAM:
CORIGLIANO: Three Hallucinations from Altered States
CORIGLIANO: Troubadors – Variations for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C minor

Corigliano’s Troubadours was premiered by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with soloist Sharon Isbin. With perhaps the most familiar opening of any piece of classical orchestra music, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5  is intense, obsessive, dramatic, and powerful. The revolutionary opening tempest is followed by a relaxed and traditional-feeling second movement, which leads to a dark and dramatic scherzo. In  an act of symphonic innovation, Beethoven heads attaca into the finale, which introduces piccolo, trombones, and contrabassoon into the symphony orchestra for the first time.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 49th season in 2014-2015, under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than sixty concerts each year for more than 165,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, Landers FIAT River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series, and numerous concerts performed around the state of Arkansas, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 26,000 school children and over 200 schools.