Tag Archives: Philip Mann

ASO Kicks Off 2012-2013 with violinist Augustin Hadelich

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra kicks off the 2012/2013 concert season with the return of ASO and audience favorite, violinist Augustin Hadelich, performing Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole on Saturday, September 29 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 30 at 3:00 p.m.

Music Director Philip Mann begins his third season with the ASO at the Robinson Center Music Hall – the first of the Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series. The program kicks off with Strauss’s Don Juan and continues with Dohnányi’s Suite in F-sharp minor before Augustin takes the stage for the second half of the concert. Concert-goers can hear more about Augustin Hadelich and the performance at the American Airlines Concert Conversation. Informances are free and are located in Robinson Room 102 one hour prior to each Masterworks concert. This concert is sponsored in part by American Airlines.

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

Consistently cited in the press for his “gorgeous tone,” “poetic communication” and “fast-fingered brilliance,” Augustin Hadelich has confirmed his place in the top echelon of young violinists. After a stellar debut with the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival in 2010, he was immediately re-engaged to play in Vail in 2011. He will return to Vail again in 2013. Mr. Hadelich just played a sensational debut with the Boston Symphony at the Tanglewood Music Festival, and will make his New York Philharmonic subscription debut in October.

Among his 2012/13 season highlights are debuts with the symphonies of Dallas, National/Washington, D.C., New Jersey, St. Louis, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Toronto, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Augustin Hadelich has also appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as the symphonies of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Houston, to name a few. He has also performed extensively in Europe, South America and the Far East.

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.

 

ASO announces River Rhapsodies for 2012-2013

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On the heels of the recent announcement of the 2012-2013 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra MasterWorks and Pops series, the ASO has unveiled next season’s River Rhapsodies Chamber Series.

It will kick off on October 2 when Augustin Hadelich will perform.  He will be featured on September 29 and 30 with the MasterWorks series as the Richard Sheppard Arnold Artist of Distinction.  Joining him on the program will be the Quapaw String Quartet, the Rockefeller String Quartet and violinist Geoffrey Robson.  The works to be performed include Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54 No. 2; Webern’s Langsamer Satz; Yasye’s Violin Sonata in d minor, No. 3 “Ballade” and Tchaikovsky’s Sextet, Op. 70 “Souvenir de Florence.”

Appropriately the second concert of the series is entitled Duos.  On October 30, the concert will feature David Gerstein, cello; Andrew Irvin, violin; Tatiana Kotcherguina, viola; Ryan Mooney, viola; Geoffrey Robson, violin and Barron Weir, contrabass.  The program will feature Mozart’s Duo No. 1 in G for Violin and Viola; Rossini’s Duetto for Cello and Bass; Bridge’s Lament for Two Violas and Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7.

On November 13, the concert is entitled Masterworks and will feature the Quapaw String Quartet, Louis Menendez on piano and violinist Geoffrey Robson.  They will perform Ravel’sPiano Trio in a minor and Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 130 and Op. 133.

The Rockefeller String Quartet’s 10th anniversary will be highlighted in the fourth concert of the series.  They will perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 44 No. 1; Glass’s String Quartet No. 3 (Mishima) and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1 in D Major.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Composer of the Year Jennifer Higdon will be featured on February 26, 2013.  The musicians performing that night will be David Gerstein, cello; Kelly Johnson, clarinet; Kiril Laskarov, violin; Susan Bell Leon, bassoon; Meredith Maddox-Hicks; violin; Diane McVinney, flute; David Renfro, horn; Tatiana Roitman, piano and Beth Wheeler, oboe. The musical selections include Barber’s Summer Music; Higdon’s Piano Trio and Autumn Music and Shostokovich’s Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67.

Spring in Little Rock will be celebrated with Appalachian Spring on April 16.  A host of musicians will play a program including Crumb’s Voice of the Whale; Debussy’s Sonate en trio for Flute, Viola and Harp; Higdon’s Amazing Grace and Copland’s Appalachian Spring.  The performers will be Carl Anthony, piano; Carolyn Brown, flute; Daniel Cline and David Gerstein, cello; Alisa Coffey, harp; Leanne Day-Simpson, Eric Hayward, Andrew Irvin and Kiril Laskarov, violin; Kelly Johnson, clarinet; Susan Bell Leon, bassoon; Ryan Mooney and Katherine Reynolds, viola and Barron Weir, contrabass.

The concerts will take place at 7pm at the Clinton Presidential Center.  Philip Mann is the music director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

 

ASO Closes Out 2011-2012 MasterWorks This Weekend

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director/Conductor Philip Mann presents its final 2011-2012 MasterWorks concert this weekend.  Entitled Desert & Sea it features performances of works by Wagner, Torke, and Debussy.

Gerassimez

The program will commence with the Overture to Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman.  Following that number will be the American premiere of Michael Torke’s Mojave Concerto for Marimba.  Torke is the inaugural ASO Composer of the Year.  The soloist on this selection is wunderkind marimbist Alexej Gerassimez.  The program concludes with Debussey’s La Mer.

The concerts take place at 8pm on Saturday, April 14 and 3pm on Sunday, April 15 at Robinson Center Music Hall.

About Michael Torke

Michael Torke has practically defined post-Minimalism, a music which utilizes the repetitive structures of a previous generation to incorporate musical techniques from both the classical tradition and the contemporary pop world.

Highlights of his career include: Color Music (1985–89), a series of orchestral pieces that each explore a single, specific color; Javelin, recorded both for Argo and for John William’s Summon the Heroes, the official 1996 Olympics album; Four Seasons, a 65-minute oratorio commissioned by the Walt Disney Company to celebrate the millennium and premiered by Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic; Strawberry Fields, whose “Great Performances” broadcast was nominated for an Emmy Award; and two evening-length story ballets, The Contract, and An Italian Straw Hat, for James Kudelka and the National Ballet of Canada.

About Alexej Gerassimez

Alexej Gerassimez was born in Essen, Germany in 1987 and received his first piano lessons at the age of five. Two years later he began to play percussion. After various early successes in competitions, among others 1st awards in the International Marimba Competition in Nuremberg, the European Music Competition for Youth, the Southwest-German Chamber Music Competition, four 1st awards including the highest number of possible points in Jugend Musiziert (a renowned national music competition for youths) and he won the Deutscher Musikrat-Competition (a national competition in all instrument categories for young adults) in 2010. In the same year he received the 1st award, the Audience Award and the Press Award in the TROMP Percussion Competition in the Netherlands, one of the most renowned international competitions for solo percussion. Today Alexej Gerassimez is presumed to be one of the leading percussion soloists of his generation.

His vivid performance activities have lead him to a wide range of European countries as well as to Japan, where he gave solo performances in Tokyo and Yokohama in the context of the German Year in 2006.

The multi-faceted young artist dedicates himself to composition, too. First publications with the Danish publisher Edition Svitzer have already been performed in the USA, Canada, Japan, and Europe.

Arkansas Symphony 2012-2013 Masterworks and Pops

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Continuing with the Spring Break theme of looking to next year, today’s entry looks at the 2012-2013 Masterworks and Pops offerings from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will kick off the 2012-2013 season on September 29 and 30 with a Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks concert featuring violinist Augustin Hadelich returning to play Eduoard Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole.  Also on the program are Strauss’ Don Juan and von Dohanyi’s Suite in F-sharp Minor. ASO Musical Director/Conductor Philip Mann will conduct.

The ASO next turns to the Pops series. The Acxiom Pops Live! series starts on October 6 & 7 with the Beatles tribute act Classical Mystery Tour. ASO Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson will lead this concert.

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon will be the ASO Composer of the Year for 2012-2013.  Her composition To the Point will be featured on the ASO’s second Masterworks concert on October 20 and 21.  That concert will also featured pianist Elissa Bolkkvadze performing Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5.

On November 10 and 11, the ASO’s annual “Beethoven & Blue Jeans” concert will showcase Tan Dun’s Pipa Concerto featuring soloist Wu Man. Also on the program is the overture to Beethoven’s only ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus.  The evening will conclude with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

For many families, it isn’t the holidays without the annual ASO Happy Holidays concert.  In 2012 it will take place on December 14-16.  Plan accordingly.

In January, the ASO will start 2013 with guest conductor Guillermo Figueroa, music director of the New Mexico Symphony and Colorado’s Music in the Mountains Festival on January 26 and 27.  ASO principal cellist David Gerstein will solo on Tchaikovsky’s Variationson a Rococo Theme.  The concerts will also include Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 1 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2.

Returning to Pops, on February 9 and 10, the ASO will present “A Night at the Movies.”  Later that month, the ASO will feature Composer of the Year Higdon again on February 23 and 24.  In addition to her blue cathedral, the program will include Haydn’s No. 95 in C minor and Shostakovich’s No. 10 in E minor.

The ASO will march into March with a celebration of the American Songbook on the Pops schedule on March 16 and 17.

The Masterworks season will conclude on April 13 and 14, 2013.  Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto featuring Midori will be the centerpiece of the evening.  Also on the bill will be the overture to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro as well as Brahms’ Symphony No. 4.

The final concert of the 2012-2013 season will be in the Pops series: Cirque de la Symphonie.  This concert, on May 11 and 12, will featured six Cirque du Soleil veterans performing to music accompanied by the ASO.

Sponsors for the 2012-2013 season are the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Acxiom and American Airlines.

People’s Choice at Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

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Forty candidates. Thousands of possibilities.

This weekend, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform a People’s Choice concert.  For the past several weeks, the ASO has been encouraging people to vote for favorites in a variety of musical genre categories.

The winners will be revealed at the concerts this weekend – tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 3pm – at Robinson Center Music Hall.  It is appropriate that a facility named after a beloved Arkansas politician would be the home to a concert programmed by popular vote.

Best Classical Composer
*Beethoven – Symphony No. 5 First Movement
*Gershwin – Summertime
*Mozart – Eine kleine Nachtmusik
*Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet Overture
*Vivaldi – The Four Seasons

Best Classic Film Score
*James Bond
*Lawrence of Arabia
*The Pink Panther
*The Wizard of Oz

Best Contemporary Film Score
*Gladiator
*The Godfather
*Harry Potter
*Pirates of the Caribbean
*Titanic

Best Sci/Fi Soundtrack
*Back to the Future
*E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
*Star Trek
*Star Wars

Best Animated TV Show
* “The Flintstones”
* “The Jetsons”
* “Looney Tunes”
* “The Simpsons”

Best TV Show
*“Bonanza”
*“Hawaii 5-O”
*“Mission Impossible”
*“The Young and the Restless”

Best Kids’ Pick
*Anastasia
*Cinderella
*The Little Mermaid
*Mary Poppins
*Peanuts

Best Video Game
*Civilization
*Halo
*The Legend of Zelda
*Super-Mario Brothers
*World of Warcraft

Best Broadway Score
*Les Miserables
*The Phantom of the Opera
*The Sound of Music
*West Side Story

ASO Music Director/Conductor Philip Mann will conduct the winners.  The program hosts will be Craig O’Neill and Dawn Scott.