Tag Archives: Philip Mann

ASO musicians in Capital Hotel lobby this evening

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ASO at CHMusicians from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will be performing this evening in the lobby of the historic Capital Hotel. The music will start at 5:00 pm.

In 2011, the ASO started these free concerts in the lobby of the Capital Hotel.  The marble and tile of this historic lobby provide a wonderful acoustic backdrop for the musicians.

The concert will feature short, accessible pieces along with commentary from the musicians.

Unlike concerts in music halls, guests here are encouraged to bring drinks to their seats or to stand and move around while the musicians are playing.  It is a relaxed, informal atmosphere where the audience and musicians alike are able to interact with each other.

This concert is part of the ASO’s ongoing efforts to play throughout the community under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann and Executive Director Christina Littlejohn.  In addition to the Capital Hotel concerts, they offer occasional free concerts at UAMS and have recently started the INC (Intimate Neighborhood Concerts) subscription series.

ASO River Rhapsodies: Dvorak’s Piano Trio No 3 in F minor

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ASO_revTuesday night (January 28) at 7pm, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s next 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. Tonight’s program features Dvořák’s Piano Trio.

General Admission tickets for River Rhapsodies concerts are $23, 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:

Mahler – Piano Quartet in A minor
Berg – Lyric Suite
Dvořák – Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 48th season in 2013-2014.  Under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann, the ASO 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.

Bohemian Rhapsody as Arkansas Symphony celebrates Brahms, Dvorak

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aso_2-colorThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra kicks of 2014 with concerts this weekend at Robinson Center Music Hall.  Bohemian Rhapsody celebrating the works of Brahams and Dvorak, will take place at 8pm this evening and 3pm tomorrow afternoon.  The musicians will be led by ASO music director Philip Mann.

Many refer to Dvorak as the greatest Bohemian composer, and he headlines our festive occasion with a selection of his most entertaining and enchanting works. His Slavonic Dances showcase a wonderful juxtaposition of propulsive dance rhythms and sweeping lyricism. The result is a volatile concoction of explosive energy and affecting emotion.

Dvorak’s Scherzo Capriccioso adds another rousing and stylish work known to increase the heart-rate for musician and listener alike.

Pianist sensation and Brahms champion Norman Krieger makes his ASO return following his triumphant Brahms Concerto No. 1, with the exquisite 2nd. A towering and daunting work in the virtuosic demands it places on the pianist, it is beloved by audiences for is beauty, amiable disposition, and charming effervescence.

Fans of romantic symphonic or pianistic works won’t want to miss this perfect combination, and one of Brahms’ greatest works.

    Brahms Concerto for Piano No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83
    Dvořák Slavonic Dances, Op. 46/72
    Dvořák Scherzo capriccioso, Op. 66

 

A native of Los Angeles, Norman Krieger is one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation, highly regarded as an artist of depth, sensitivity and virtuosic flair.

Norman Krieger regularly appears with the major orchestras of North America, among them the New York, Los Angeles, Buffalo, Dayton and Hamilton Philharmonics, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Baltimore, California, Chicago, Cincinnati, Florida, Hartford, Honolulu, Kansas City, Milwaukee, National, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Saint Louis, San Antonio, San Diego and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras.

ASO Holiday Show This Weekend

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Join Maestro Philip Mann and your ASO in a FUN-PACKED program for the whole family, featuring vocalists Leslie Harper and Charity Vance, members of Arkansas Rep’s Young Artists program, choirs, dancing Santas, and more.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra presents a brand new show written and directed by Nicole Capri of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

Among the highlights will be favorite Christmas Carols such as “Hark the Harold Angels Sing” and “Silent Night” as well as Christmas classics like “O Holy Night” and “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

This will be the final ASO holiday show in Robinson until 2016 (though they will take place in other locations during 2014 and 2015).  Bring your friends and family for the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit!

Performances are Friday, December 20 at 7:30pm; Saturday, December 21 at 8:00pm; and Sunday, December 22 at 3:00pm.

Beethoven, Blue Jeans, Beer, Brats all with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra this weekend

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mw3_largeThis weekend: Maestro Philip Mann and the ASO are joined by talented cellist Inbal Segev for the ASO’s most popular Masterworks concert, featuring Strauss’s Die Fledermaus: Overture, Gulda’s rollicking Cello Concerto, and, of course, the mighty Beethoven with his Symphony No. 4. Wear jeans to this casual concert and be sure to come early for the 3rd Annual Beer and Brats Street Party!

Beethoven and Blue Jeans presents a thoroughly Viennese affair with sounds of court, nature, and even the city’s downtown clubs. Opening the performance in quintessential fashion is Johann Strauss’s Overture to Die Fledermaus, which is infused with the excitement of nighttime Vienna and its grand waltzes and intoxicating flair. A personal favorite, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 is one of the most perfect works of the classical Viennese symphony genre. His brilliance and wit is particularly sharp is one of his finest and most joyful works, whose only shortcoming is that it was a middle child -falling between Eroica and the mighty 5th Symphony.

Outrageous personality Friedrich Gulda crossed genres between jazz and classical as a pianist, but as a composer he left all labels behind. His Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra is an altogether Viennese work citing everything from Haydn to rock and roll as inspiration. It could easily have been kitsch, but Gulda’s genius engenders a work of style, fun, and panache. Bringing the unforgettable concerto to the Robinson stage is critically acclaimed cellist, Inbal Segev, making her ASO debut.

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

Tickets for this casual concert and street party start at $14 – click here to get your tickets now!

Beethoven & Blue Jeans attendees can also support the Arkansas Foodbank by dropping off a frozen turkey or other bird 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 2013-2014 Season.

Final Day of ASO “Pick Three” Ticket Special Offer

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ASO_2-colorThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, announces Pick Three—a special pricing promotion allowing concertgoers to pick three or more ASO performances during the 2013-2014 Season for a special price of only $19 per best available seat!  Pick Three represents a saving of up to 60 percent off regular ticket prices, and is available through this special promotion only thru Friday, October 4th.

Pick Three pricing applies to any three or more of the Symphony’s roster of concerts—the Masterworks series; POPS Live! series; or the River Rhapsodies chamber series.   Concertgoers can visit arkansassymphony.org/pick3 , select the concerts they want to attend, and enter the discount code PICK3, or they can call the box office at 501-666-1761 and ask for Pick Three pricing.

The Masterworks and Pops Live! concerts are

OCT 12-13 – Halloween Spooktacular (Pops Live!)
Have a spooky time with your ASO – Come in costume, bring the family and hear familiar favorites.
Tickets & Info

OCT 19-20 – Barber’s Violin Concerto (Masterworks)
Barber – Concerto for Violin
Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 2
Tickets & Info

NOV 9-10 – Beethoven & Blue Jeans (Masterworks)
Gulda – Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra
Beethoven – Symphony No. 4
Tickets & Info

DEC 20-22 – Holiday Fantasy (Pops Live!)
Christmas carols, sing-alongs, and the ASO – come celebrate the season with your favorite holiday music.
Tickets & Info

JAN 25-26 – Bohemian Rhapsody (Masterworks)
Brahms – Concerto for Piano No. 2
Dvořák – Slavonic Dances
Tickets & Info

FEB 15-16 – Best of Broadway (Pops Live!)
Hits from Broadway’s most beloved show tunes – get ready to smile!
Tickets & Info

MAR 1-2 – Verdi’s Requiem (Masterworks)
Verdi – Missa di Requiem
Tickets & Info

MAR 8-9 – Wizard of Oz with Orchestra (Pops Live!)
Follow the yellow brick road to a a magical evening featuring the film “Wizard of Oz.”
Tickets & Info

APR 12-13 – Mahler’s Fifth Symphony (Masterworks)
Theofanidis – Commissioned by the ASO Musicians
Mahler – Symphony No. 5
Tickets & Info

MAY 3-4 – Shower the People: The Music of James Taylor (Pops Live!)
How sweet it is! The ASO pays tribute to the music of James Taylor.
Tickets & Info

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 48th season in 2013-2014 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 Parker Lexus 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.

Martina Filjak, piano with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra this weekend

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ASO_2-colorThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform with charismatic pianist Martina Filjak, on Saturday, September 21 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 22 at 3:00 p.m. at the Robinson Center Music Hall. This is kicks off the ASO’s 2013-2014 Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series.

The program includes Shostakovich’s Festive Overture; Op. 96; Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23 and Stravinksy’s Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring).

The ASO will be under the baton of Music Director Philip Mann.

One of the most exciting young artists to emerge in recent years, Martina Filjak is garnering international praise for her poetic passion and technical mastery at the keyboard as well as for her charismatic personality and magnetic stage presence. Her transition from prodigy to mature artist has been all the more remarkable against the backdrop of political maelstrom that defined her native Croatia during her childhood.

Martina’s unwavering hunger for music, nurtured by piano teacher parents, has been her lodestar. Civil strife or no, she graduated from the Zagreb Music Academy and subsequently from the Vienna Conservatory and the soloist’s class at Hannover’s Hochschule für Musik. She participated in masterclasses at the Como Piano Academy, where she was coached by Dmitri Bashkirov, Peter Frankl and Andreas Staier.

In 2009, Martina Filjak won first prize in the Cleveland International Piano Competition, following which she made concerto debuts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and Vienna’s Musikverein and her recital debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall/Zankel Hall (“Brilliant, sensitive and imaginative playing with resourcefulness of technique and naturalness of musicality. …A striking individuality …A pianist to watch” The New York Times). Prior to winning the Cleveland competition, she had been first prizewinner of the 2007 Viotti International Piano Competition in Italy and the 2008 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona.

She loves to travel and speaks seven languages.