Tag Archives: Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

Quapaw Quartet at Capital Hotel

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The Quapaw Quartet of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert at the Capital Hotel this afternoon from 5 pm to 6:30 pm.

Come listen to a selection of short, accessible pieces along with commentary from the musicians.

Guests are invited to mingle with the musicians and Music Director Philip Mann before and after the performance.

Programming is subject to change.
Prokofiev Quartet No. 2, Op. 92
I. Allegro sostenuto
Borodin Quartet No. 2 in D Major
III. Nocturne
Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 130
IV. Allegro assai
Ives String Quartet No. 1
IV. Allegro marziale
Schubert String Quintet in C Major
I. Allegro ma non troppo

FOURTE – Youth Quartet of Arkansas Symphony performs tonight

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Fourté, the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra’s String Quartet, will perform a free recital on Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. in Byrne Hall on the campus of St. John’s Catholic Center in the Heights. Fourté is comprised of violinist Abby Gschwend, violinist Kevin Li, violist Olivia Richardson, and cellist Michael Warrick. These high school students are coached by Arkansas Symphony violinist Eric Hayward.

Program:

Giacomo Puccini – Crisantemi; Karl Stamitz – String Quartet No. 2, Allegro con spirito; Brian Crain, arr. Eric Hayward –      Song for Rome; Rolf Lowland and Brendan Graham, arr. Eric Hayward – You Raise Me Up; Ed Roland – Tremble for My Beloved from “Twilight”; Antonin Dvorák – Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 “The American”, Lent, Allegro ma non troppo.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 46th season in 2011-2012 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 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 20,000 school children and over 200 schools.

 

Ark. Symphony welcomes WICKED Divas

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra closes out the 2011-2012 Pops season with a program entitled “Wicked Divas.”

Under the baton of Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson, the ASO will be joined by Eden Espinosa and Emily Rozek for an evening of Broadway power songs.  Both actors have Broadway credits and have appeared in productions of Wicked.

Among  the numbers which will be performed are:

The Overture to Gypsy (Jule Styne); selections from Carmen (Bizet); selections from Chicago (John Kander), “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe); “Back to Before” from Ragtime (Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens); “Think of Me” from The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber); “Ring Them Bells” (John Kander and Fred Ebb); and “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg);.

From Wicked, they will perform “Popular,” “Defying Gravity” and “For Good.”

The concert is being presented tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 3pm at Robinson Center Music Hall.

Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestras Concert Tonight

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The Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestras program will present a concert tonight at Pulaski Academy at 7pm.

There are four youth orchestras featuring over 150 young musicians.  Each of the orchestras will be featured on the program.

The Preparatory Orchestra, under the direction of Casey Buck will perform British Grenadiers by John Caponegro, Sword Dance by Bob Phillips, and Dragonhunter by Richard Meyer.

The Prelude Orchestra is led Kiril Laskarov and Drew Irvin.  Maestro Laskarov will conduct Del Borgo’s Concertino in G while Maestro Irvin will conduct Joseph Haydn’s Finale from Symphony #47.

The Academy Orchestra is under the baton of Thomas McDonald.  Their selections will be Concerto Grosso in G. Major, op. 3 no. 3 by G. F. Handel; Symphony No. 104 – London by F. J. Haydn; and Chicago by John Kander and Fred Ebb.  Angela Wang, violin and Philip Kim, oboe will be soloists on the first selection.

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson is the conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra.  Under his direction, those musicians will play Bizet’s Carmen Suite, No. 1 and Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor.

Happy 100 to WR

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One hundred years ago today, Winthrop Rockefeller was born in New York.  After moving to Arkansas in the early 1950s, he would establish himself as a positive force for the development of the state.

Perhaps his most obvious impact was helping to transform the provincial Little Rock Museum of Fine Arts into the first rate Arkansas Arts Center.  He and his family were generous donors of money and art to this effort.

Through the effort of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, many cultural institutions have received funds for programming which has reached into every county and every corner of this state.  For instance, one of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s string quartets is the Rockefeller Quartet.

Mr. Rockefeller at the groundbreaking for the Arkansas Arts Center

It is hard to quantify what impact his efforts had on cultural institutions which did not even exist in his lifetime.  Without the elevation of the arts and the understanding of their impact, it is doubtful that endeavors such as the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Opera Theatre (now Wildwood Park for the Arts) and Ballet Arkansas would have had success with donors in their nascent days.

In 2012, a year-long Celebration is planned to highlight the legacy of Winthrop Rockefeller in the state 40 years after he left office as the state’s 37th governor.  His leadership in political, economic, and cultural arenas as well as in his philanthropic endeavors had a significant impact on the development of Arkansas. This celebration is intended to promote an understanding of these accomplishments to an audience that may know little of his deeds as an historical figure or his contributions to the evolution of the state.

Over the next year, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Winrock International, the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Central Arkansas Library System, and the Arkansas Arts Center will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Winthrop Rockefeller’s birth by reaching out from Petit Jean Mountain, the home he created in his adopted state, to the rest of Arkansas and the United States.

This Centennial Celebration will offer a variety of programs that will honor his legacy, bringing it alive to a new generation. These programs will convene some of the nation’s leading thinkers and innovators to explore his contributions and take a contemporary look at the issues about which he cared so deeply. Alongside celebratory events, the Celebration will include an assortment of academic conferences, public forums, art exhibits, and educational programs.

UALR to Honor Sotomoras at FINALE

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UALR will honor Eileen and Dr. Ricardo Sotomora at the seventh annual Finale at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, April 28 at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the UALR Fine Arts Building.

Reservations to the black-tie optional event are $150 with $110 being deductible.

Finale celebrates the arts in Central Arkansas and is the premier fundraising event for UALR’s fine arts programs. The dinner gala features performances and artwork by students.

Dr. Sotomora is the only pediatric cardiologist in private practice in Arkansas. He is the exclusive provider of cardiology services for children at Baptist Health Medical Center and St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, in Little Rock, and Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. His cardiology practice is managed by Eileen.

The Sotomoras were instrumental in founding the American Heart Association’s annual “Heart Ball,” in Arkansas, a debutante ball that not only raises proceeds for the organization but strives to teach girls about volunteerism and health. In 2006, Dr. Sotomora received the “Worthen Cornett Award,” the highest honor given to a person for work on behalf of the American Heart Association in Central Arkansas.

In 2008, they chaired the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Opus XXIV. Currently, Dr. Sotomora is a trustee of the Arkansas Arts Center Board and a member of the development committee. Both of the Sotomoras are members of the Director’s Circle.  The Sotomoras are supporters of the Venezuelan “El Sistemia,” a government-funded program that currently assists nearly one million Venezuelan children in learning classical music.

“Eileen and Ricardo are amazing leaders in the Central Arkansas community,” said Deborah Baldwin, dean of the UALR College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “We are honored that they would assist us in raising awareness about how arts programs enrich the communities in which we live.”

Finale 2012’s performance will feature UALR music students performing scenes from the Broadway musical, “Into the Woods,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. Craig O’Neill of Today’s THV will serve as master of ceremonies. This is his fourth year to host the event.

In the live auction, Finale will feature a designer jewelry piece created by Sissy’s Log Cabin.

Presenting sponsors of the 2012 event are Glazer’s Distributors of Arkansas and Sissy’s Log Cabin. Premier sponsors include Pediatrix, Terri and Chuck Erwin, and Chip and Cindy Murphy. Sustaining sponsors are Simmons First National Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield, East-Harding, Inc., Entergy, US Bank, and HBO/Time Warner.

Arts organizations from around the region lend their support to Finale each year. This year’s participating arts partners are Accademia dell’Arte, Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Reservations to Finale are $150 each. Call Rivka Kuperman at (501) 765-9636 or at rekuperman@ualr.edu for more information.

Free Arkansas Symphony Concert This Afternoon

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The Arkansas Symphony Brass Quintet will present a free concert this afternoon on the UAMS campus.
As a part of the Dr. Ruth Marie Allen Concert Series, it will start at 4:30pm in the music lobby.
Featuring the Arkansas Symphony Brass Quintet:
     Richard Jorgensen, trumpet
     Carl Mason, trumpet
     David Renfro, horn
     Michael Underwood, trombone
     Kevin Sanders, tuba
Johann Sebastian Bach
My Spirit Be Joyful (trans. Harry Herforth)
John Cheetham
Scherzo
Victor Ewald
Quintet No. 3 in D-flat Major, Op. 7
Samuel Scheidt
Canzona Bergamasca (arr. Conrad de Jong)
George Gershwin
Prelude No. 2 (arr. Norbert Carnovale)
Wilke Renwick
Dance
Directions

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.