Tag Archives: Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

Free Concert This Afternoon Featuring ASO Musicians

Posted on by

The Ruth Allen UAMS Series takes place from time to time at UAMS and is free.  This afternoon at 4:30pm the concert will feature ASO co-concertmaster Andrew Irvin, violist Ryan Mooney and pianist Julie Cheek.

The program will feature Mr. Irvin and Mr. Mooney performing Mozart’s Duo No. 1 in G for Violin and Viola, K. 423 and Mr. Irvin and Ms. Cheek performing Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1, Op. 12 for Violin and Piano.

Here are the directions for the concert:

From Markham, turn south onto Hooper St.
Follow signs to Parking Lot 1.
Enter the lot, which goes underground.
Take the elevator to the “top” of the parking Lot 1, which immediately adjoins the back side of the lobby.
The Music Room is at the west end of the lobby, behind the grand piano.

ASO Chamber Series Tonight: Masterworks

Posted on by

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s third concert of the Parker Lexus River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series features two great masterworks of the chamber music repertoire. The concert will be held Tuesday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Clinton Presidential Center.

The program features Trio Arkansas playing Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, which ASO Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson says shows Ravel’s mastery of piano and string instruments, with impressionistic stylings and influences from the Far East. Next ASO’s resident Quapaw Quartet will perform Beethoven’s great quartet Op. 130/133, which Robson says is one of Beethoven’s late great works. “It is large scale, in six movements. The original last movement (Grosse Fuge) was replaced by a shorter, simpler movement after initial publication, but the Quapaw Quartet will perform the original version intact!”

General Admission tickets for River Rhapsodies concerts are $22, and Student tickets are available for $10. Tickets can be purchased online atwww.ArkansasSymphony.org, over the phone at (501) 666-1761 or at the door.

Featuring

Quapaw Quartet
Eric Hayward, violin
Meredith Maddox Hicks, violin
Ryan Mooney, viola
David Gerstein, cello

Trio Arkansas
Louis Menendez, piano
Geoffrey Robson, violin
David Gerstein, cello

Program:

Ravel, Piano Trio in A minor – Menendez, Gerstein, Robson

Intermission

Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge – Hayward, Hicks, Mooney, Gerstein

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 47th season in 2012-2013 under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than thirty concerts each year for more than 42,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series and River Rhapsodies Chamber Series, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 24,000 school children and over 200 schools.

The REAL 3 Bs of Music: Beethoven, Blue Jeans and Brats

Posted on by

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra invites new listeners to put on their favorite pair of blue jeans and take part in the annual Beethoven & Blue Jeans concert and Beer & Brats Street Party on Saturday, November 10 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 11 at 3:00 p.m. at the Robinson Center Music Hall. This is the third concert of the Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series.

This casual concert kicks off with the Beer & Brats Street Party at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Concert ticket holders can enjoy free brats, $2 Diamond Bear beer and the sounds of the Episcopal Collegiate School Steel Drum Band. Concert goers can follow @ARSymphony and the hashtag #BeethovenAndBlueJean via Twitter to get inside scoop about the Street Party and learn insights about the concert in progress.

The jean-clad ASO begins the program with the concert’s namesake in Beethoven’s extraordinary classical overture, Creatures of Prometheus. Next, listeners will recognize sounds from Tan Dun’s hit film scores for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero in his Concerto for String Orchestra and Pipa, featuring world renowned pipa player, Wu Man. (Pipa is a Chinese lute-like instrument.) Then, East meets West in the telling of Sinbad and Arabian Nights in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade – always an audience favorite and a perfect piece to introduce new listeners to the ASO experience.

Beethoven & Blue Jeans attendees can also support the Arkansas Foodbank by dropping off a frozen turkey at the BBJ Street Party. And as a thank you, turkey donors will receive a pair of free tickets to any concert from the ASO’s 2012/2013 Season.

Concert-goers can learn more about the program before the concert at the American Airlines Concert Conversation. These informances are free and are located in Robinson Room 102 one hour prior to each Masterworks concert.

Tickets range from $14-$52 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org or over the phone at (501) 666-1761. Thanks to the Entergy Kids Ticket, all kids through 12th grade are free on Sundays with the purchase of an adult ticket. For more information, visit www.ArkansasSymphony.org.

 

ASO River Rhapsodies Continues Tonight with DUOS

Posted on by

Tonight at 7pm, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s second concert of the Parker Lexus River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series will features duos of ASO Musicians. The concert will be held at the Clinton Presidential Center.

The program is an intimate showcase of the ASO’s musicians, in duo format and features ASO Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson, co-concertmaster Drew Irvin, Quapaw Quartet members David Gerstein and Ryan Mooney, principal bassist Barron Weir, principal violist Kater Reynolds and violist Tatiana Kotcherguina.

General Admission tickets for River Rhapsodies concerts are $22, and Student tickets are available for $10. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org, over the phone at (501) 666-1761 or at the door.

The program will include

Mozart’s Duo No. 1 in G for Violin and Viola, K. 423 featuring Irvin and Mooney
Rossini’s Duetto for Cello and Bass featuring Gerstein and Weir
Frank Bridge’s Lament for Two Violas with Kotcherguina and Mooney
Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 featuring Gerstein and Robson

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 47th season in 2012-2013 under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than thirty concerts each year for more than 42,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series and River Rhapsodies Chamber Series, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 24,000 school children and over 200 schools.

Ark Symphony Concerts This Weekend

Posted on by

20121020-054530.jpg

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform with fiery Georgian pianist Elisso Bolkvadze on Saturday, October 20 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 21 at 3:00 p.m. at the Robinson Center Music Hall. This is the second concert of the Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series and is sponsored in part by University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

The concert opens with To the Point by Jennifer Higdon, ASO Composer of the Year. Then Bolkvadze continues the program with Saint-Saëns much-loved 2nd concerto. ASO Music Director Philip Mann describes the work as, “full of captivating dance rhythms, grand flourishes, and melodies that stick with you.” The ASO then takes center stage again for the remainder of the program with Sibelius’s marvelous and influential 5th Symphony.

Elisso Bolkvadze won numerous international piano competitions, such as Van Cliburn (USA), Vianna da Motta (Lisbon, Portugal), Axa International Piano Competition (Dublin, Ireland), Marguerite Long (Paris, France).

A superstar in her country of birth in Georgia, Elisso has been awarded by Georgian Government “The award of Georgian Government” and “Cultural Merit.” After she enjoyed great success at Van Cliburn International Contest, she plays many concerts in top auditorium through the world, like Kennedy Centre (Washington), Pasadena Auditorium (Los Angeles), Santa Fe Festival, Miami Arts In Florida, Orange County Center, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau (Paris) Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig) Radio France Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Russia), Herkulessaal (Munich) Alte Oper (Frankfurt), National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Georgian National Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Theatre de Champs Elysees (Paris).

Mann of the Evening

Posted on by

Philip Mann, Recipient of 2012 Communicator of the Year AwardTonight, the Arkansas Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators will present the Bronze Quill Awards.  Among the recipients are Philip Mann, Music Director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

He will receive the Communicator of the Year Award, recognizing his innovative communication styles in creating connections between the music and the audience.

Congratulations to Maestro Mann and all the recipients this evening.

For more information on IABC, visit here.  For more information Philip Mann and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, visit here.

Claude Bolling’s Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano Trio at The Afterthought

Posted on by

Tonight, October 8th, 2012 there will be a special one-time performance of Claude Bolling’s Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano Trio at The Afterthought, the jazz club on Kavanaugh Blvd. in the Hillcrest section of Little Rock.

With music starting at 8pm, saxophonist Brandon Dorris will perform a trio set with bassist Joe Vick and drummer Brian Brown. The Bolling,which is about an hour of music, will feature violinist Geoffrey Robson,pianist Louis Menendez, bassist Joe Vick, and drummer Brian Brown.

The evening will conclude with more music from Brandon Dorris and the trio.

Sophisticated jazz piano stylings blend seamlessly with lyrical and virtuosic violin playing in the music of Claude Bolling. $5 cover only.

Geoffrey Robson, violinist, is the Associate Conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and violinist in Trio Arkansas with pianist Louis Menendez. Louis Menendez, of Hot Springs, AR, is a fine concert pianist, opera coach, and conductor, and is a faculty member at
Ouachita Baptist University. Joe Vick is a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and a Little Rock jazz mainstay. He also teaches music at College Station Elementary and Fuller Middle School in Little Rock.

Brian Brown, also a local jazz mainstay, has performed on just about every stage in town, and appears four nights a week at the Capital Hotel with the Ted Ludwig Jazz Trio. Brandon Dorris is one of the more versatile musicians in town. Recent appearances include the Hot Springs Jazz Festival, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Repertory Theater, and Dugan’s Pub.