Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Great Deals for Great. Live. Music.

2010-07-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

If you still haven't purchased your season tickets for our upcoming season of Great. Live. Music., this is your last guarantee to get seating preferences as our single tickets go on sale July 15th! All new subscribers will be invited to our exclusive Afterglow event on September 26th at Hill Auditorium to celebrate the kick-off of our latest season. Call 734/994-4801 for more information and don't forget to visit our website, www.a2so.com!

Local area college students can receive half-off on tickets in sections A-D. To find out if your school qualifies, give us a call and don't wait- tickets are sure to go fast!

This is sure to be our greatest season yet and we hope to share the gift of music with all of you!

Stay in Touch With Your A2SO!

2010-06-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing and the A2SO is busy preparing for its upcoming season of Great. Live. Music.! While we prep, there are tons of ways to stay in touch and find out exactly what is happening with your A2SO as well as any special events that may be occuring. If you are interested in purchasing season tickets, visit us online at www.a2so.com or give us a call at 734/994-4801.

Are you a Facebook or Twitter user? You can find us on both social networking sites where we will provide you with up-to-date information you can't find anywhere else! The A2SO can also be found on Youtube and iTunes and is a perfect fix for those anxiously awaiting our upcoming season to begin. We hope to see all of you in the fall for what is sure to be our greatest season to date!

A2SO Fans Applaud Previous Season of Celebration, Await the Arrival of Great. Live. Music.

2010-06-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

Summertime in Ann Arbor is truly something to behold. Not only is it a time to head outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, but it is also the perfect time to look back and reflect. As the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra prepares for its upcoming season of Great. Live. Music., fans have flocked to Facebook, Twitter, and our website to tell us their favorite moments of the past Season of Celebration as well as their excitement for this fall's season premiere.

The A2SO's Mozart Birthday Bash, a record breaking concert this past January at Hill Auditorium, was a popular favorite among audience members. Not surprising, the Season of Celebration finale concert (sold out!), Musical Portraits, was also cherished by fans of the symphony.

A ton of internet buzz came in from fans who attended our David Archuleta Christmas from the Heart program back in November at Hill Auditorium. David Santiago Gonzalez took to Facebook to tell us, "the David Archuleta concert was fantastic! I am from Texas and made a trip to see David sing with the A2SO! It was super awesome!" A2SO Twitter follower, VFerrll, noted, "the Christmas concert with David Archuleta was my favorite concert, and I hope it will be an annual event!"

With the excitement of our Season of Celebration still radiating in the city of Ann Arbor and beyond, the season premiere of our next season of Great. Live. Music. is rapidly approaching. Made in Michigan, a celebration of listening local, celebrates the 75th birthday of the Bentley Historical Library and kicks off the season of incredible performances as a special Sunday concert in Hill Auditorium on September 26th at 4:00 PM!

If you are interested in purchasing tickets to one of our great concerts or becoming a seasonal subscriber, visit us online at www.a2so.com or call our office at 734/994-4801. Don't forget to become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on everything that is happening with the A2SO!

Side-By-Side Concert This Thursday, May 20

2010-05-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

The ability of music to inspire is an astonishing thing. Countless generations have felt the power and emotion of music as listeners, and performers have constantly reinvented the melodies heard around the world. As a fixture of Ann Arbor musical and artistic culture, the A2SO has touched the lives of audiences of all ages. This Thursday, the symphony will not only inspire young musicians at its Side-By-Side Concert, but also foster the remarkable talents of younger generations. Join us for this wonderful event, Thursday May 20, 2010 at the Jane Tasch Performing Arts Theater at 7:15 PM. Tickets are available for $10 at the Pinckney Community Schools central office and Busch's. Tickets are also available at the door.

The Navigator 6th Grade Orchestra opens the show with a solo repertoire followed by an A2SO and Pathfinder combined repertoire (Brahms Symphony No. 2, 4th mvt. and Pirates of the Caribbean arrangement). The A2so will also play a solo repertoire (Dvorak Symphony No. 9, 1st mvt. and Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture) and will be joined to play another combined repertoire by the High School Orchestra (Ravel Pavanne for a Dead Princess and Saint-Saens Bacchanale).

Since its beginning, the Side-by-Side Concert has inspired countless young musicians as they join professional orchestra members for a night of incredible music. This is a night of music not to be missed- we hope to see you there!

Visit us online at www.a2so.com, follow us on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook! For information on tickets and season subscriptions, call 734/994-4801.

Great. Live. Music.

2010-05-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”
- Ludwig van Beethoven.

“Music Rocks!”
– Student at Whitmore Lake Elementary School while participating in an A2SO Education event.

“Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, and invents.” Like so many others, Beethoven once passionately struggled to express, in words, exactly what makes great music. The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra will perform some of the greatest classical music in the repertoire in its 2010-2011 Season, Great. Live. Music. After a wildly successful Season of Celebration, the A2SO continues with incredible momentum, predicting significant ticket sales and popularity for the greatest season of live music to date.

In his 11th season, Maestro Arie Lipsky celebrates Michigan, flirts with the romance of famous Russian pieces, and proves why Beethoven, Mozart, and Mahler truly are great composers. Celebrating the universal power and emotions of classical music, Great. Live. Music. also features works by Bolcom, Grieg, Bach, and Dvořák, performed in the best way possible: LIVE.

Joining the A2SO on stage this season are some of the greatest soloists of our time. Michigan’s own William Bolcom and Joan Morris, the incredible duo heralded by the Chicago Sun Times as “the best thing to happen to American popular song since the invention of sheet music,” will grace the stage of Hill Auditorium at the remarkable season premiere, Made In Michigan. The 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Award winner, pianist Adam Golka, joins the symphony for the Beethoven Festival on October 23rd. Roman Rabinovich, winner of the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, leads the A2SO in a vibrant journey through Russian music, and University of Michigan Professor of Harpsichord Ed Parmentier, A2SO Associate Concertmaster Kathryn Votapek, and A2SO Principal Flutist Penelope Fischer heat things up at Strings on Fire on November 13th. U-M Professor of Violin Yehonatan Berick and U-M Professor of Viola Rebecca Albers light up the stage at the Mozart Birthday Bash in January. U-M Professor of Voice Melody Racine wows us in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in a triumphant close to the season.

The season premiere, Made In Michigan, will be presented as a special Sunday concert at 4 PM at Hill Auditorium, while the remaining classical series concerts will take place at the historic Michigan Theater on Saturdays at 8 PM, with pre-concert lectures highlighting each evening’s music from 7-7:30 PM. The Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Concert Series will also be presented at the Michigan Theater on Sundays at 4 PM and the traditional Sing Along with Santa, a favorite among Ann Arbor area youngsters, will be presented at the Bethlehem UCC on Saturday, December 11th at 4 PM.

Made In Michigan, 9/26. Listen locally to the A2SO, the ranks of Hill’s Frieze organ built in Detroit, and the wealth of great musical talent Michigan offers at a joint concert celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Bentley Historical Library. This concert is steeped in Michigan roots, culture, and traditions. Made In Michigan showcases William Albright’s delightful Sleight of Hand Rag, an outstanding piece from within the Bentley’s collections. Ann Arbor treasured composer William Bolcom, singer Joan Morris, organist Steven Ball, and flute virtuoso Amy Porter bring their talents to the stage, and Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears receives its Michigan premiere.

Beethoven Festival, 10/23. The soaring beauty of ballet music in the Prometheus Overture opens this evening with the symphony and the great master Ludwig van Beethoven. Revel in the audience favorite Piano Concerto No. 4, rich with melodic layers of complexity. Winner of the 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Prize and the 2009 Max I. Allen Classical Fellowship Award for the American Pianist Association, Adam Golka brings precision and finesse to the keyboard. As deafening silence began closing in on Beethoven, he continued to compose magnificent works like his Symphony No. 2. The evening concludes with that memorable symphony full of grace, wit, and lyrical melodies. This concert is sponsored by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Transplant Center.

Strings On Fire, 11/13. The beauty and warmth of A2SO strings create an evening of live musical magic. Elegant and expressive, playful and intimate, this is a concerto “as much fun to play as it is to listen to,” says violin soloist Kathryn Votapek. “Brandenburg No. 5 shows Bach at his most content, a delightful, relaxed conversation among the three soloists and orchestra,” adds master harpsichordist Ed Parmentier. Savor the warm, luscious melodies of Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings and be wrapped in the soulful melodies and dancing tunes of Grieg’s Holberg Suite. This concert is sponsored by the Ray & Eleanor Cross Foundation.

Mozart Birthday Bash, 1/22. For Mozart’s 255th birthday, the A2SO plays dazzling examples of Mozart’s genius and creativity, opening with the rollicking Wind Serenade. As a combination of concerto and symphony, the Sinfonia Concertante is one of the great duets in the repertoire, featuring U-M faculty members Yehonatan Berick, violin, and Rebecca Albers, viola. Enjoy one of the first examples of trumpet and percussion use in a classical symphony with the “Linz” Symphony. Composed, copied, rehearsed, and performed by Mozart in just one weekend while being hosted in the town of Linz, Austria. The symphony swirls with the finesse and charm that is uniquely Mozart. This concert is sponsored by the Carl and Isabelle Brauer Fund.

Russian Romance, 3/12. The A2SO brings the romance of great Russian music to Ann Arbor with a tour de force concert program. The orchestra takes off faster and faster as the unrelenting dance rhythms of Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila Overture provide a festive start to an evening full of must-hear selections. Back by audience demand, pianist Roman Rabinovich performs a giant in the repertoire, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. This listening experience is guaranteed to warm up your March evening with lush, lyrical, and poignant melodies. Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, conceived to honor the greatness of the human spirit, rounds out a lovely evening of live Russian music.

Mahler’s Third, 4/30. The A2SO’s season of Great. Live. Music. concludes with the magnificence, expression, and passionate drama of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. A unique work in six movements, based on the work of various poets, the symphony explores what flowers in a meadow, animals in the woods, voices of angels, and the innocence of children may tell us about life and love. The pure voices of the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale and the UMS Choral Union Women’s Chorus join the warm, rich voice of soprano Melody Racine bringing poetry to life in the thrilling, triumphant conclusion. A true masterpiece, this concert is co-sponsored by Bank of Ann Arbor with support from A. Michael and Remedios Montalbo Young.

Complementing the great classical series concerts are remarkable symphonic classics for the whole family. The Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Concert Series presents a collection of great musical pieces designed to entertain everyone from the tiniest tots to the most experienced listeners.

Peter and the Wolf, 11/14. The opening family concert of the season is a double-feature. Prokofiev’s playful classic delights, inspires, and connects with the child in all of us. The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra tells the story of Peter with the strings, flighty bird songs played by flutes, sneaking cats represented by oboe melodies, and the great wolf played by three powerful French horns. Come hear the orchestra tell this wonderful story.
The second part of the concert feature’s Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Britten’s variations on a theme come to life from high to low, brass to strings, percussion to woodwinds in this well known work. A variety of moods, tones, and colors are shown through a simple theme that leads to a majestic, full orchestral finish. A celebrity narrator guides the symphonic journey.

Sea to Shining Sea, 3/13. Celebrating the beauty of the world around us, the A2SO plays symphonic classics that explore the wonder and awe of the Earth and its resources. The program includes Beethoven’s magnificent Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” and features selections from Chambers, Grieg, Handel, Debussy, and Vivaldi. For any one who has ever admired the magnificence of our planet, this is a concert not to be missed! This concert is sponsored by Toyota.

To order season subscriptions, call 734/994-4801; mail 220 E. Huron Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104; fax 734/994-3949; email a2so@a2so.com; online at www.a2so.com. First time subscribers buy one season subscription and get one free! Now is the time to take the opportunity to enjoy all the incredible performances of the A2SO for a discounted price!

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of over 76,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dexter District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.

Musical Portraits Program Notes

2010-04-15T06:33:00.001-07:00

Program Notes for Musical Portraits

April 24th, Michigan Theater at 8 PM
Copyright 2010 Edward Yadzinsky

Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9
Hector Berlioz

French composer and conductor

Born December 11, 1803; La Côte-Saint-André,

FranceDied March 8, 1869; Paris, France

Hector Berlioz was a man for all Romantic seasons. To be sure, the age was well underway when he arrived on the scene, but it was he who added savoir faire and glamor to the mode. Moreover he insisted that music was always up to something – that it always had a story line of some kind peering through the veils of rhythm and tone.

To this Berlioz was eternally true. Through his catalog of original scores, one will search in vain for a single title that does not represent a literary or real-world association of some kind. Furthermore, it is often noted that the composer had a passion for English novels, Shakespearean plays, English poetry and English actresses (he later married one). So we are hardly surprised to discover a few character-roles among his scores – e.g.,; Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Ophelia, Hamlet, etc. Beyond Shakespeare are captions from Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Moore, Benvenuto Cellini, Vergil, Victor Hugo, etc., including an American who did most of his writing in up-state New York – James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851).

Throughout history, ideas borrowed, shared or stolen have been the DNA of the arts, and the Roman Carnival Overture of 1838 is a splendid example. Searching for a rich libretto for a new opera, Berlioz was captivated by the celebrated autobiography of the great Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. In its own right, Cellini’s account remains one of the greatest examples of literature from the Italian High Renaissance. Oddly, the entertaining saga was not translated into French until well into the 19th century, at the perfect moment to impress the young and irreverent Berlioz, who was smitten by the tale of Cellini’s mad-cap life and times.

What a story! Hollywood has never invented a more picturesque nor picaresque character than the real-life Cellini. But the 1838 opera that bore his name never became a real success, in part because the libretto failed to capture the artistic spirit and dash of its celebrated hero.

In the original score, a late carnival scene in Renaissance Rome was tone-painted by Berlioz with his usual gift for florid and flinty orchestral color. As a musical melange, the composer borrowed the zesty carnival effects and plied them with Cellini’s love song from Act I. Voila: Le Carnaval Romain, (Roman Carnival Overture). Some years later Berlioz provided his own appraisal of the music: “...I cannot help recognizing in it a variety of ideas, an impetuous verve, and a brilliance of musical coloring....”

After a spectacular introduction, the beautiful music of Cellini’s love song is heard from a plaintive English Horn. It provides an early retreat in advance of the gusty celebration to follow. Stand by for all manner of orchestral luster, bellicose statements from the brass, jet-stream flares from the violins, soaring woodwinds, pointed percussion and a whirlwind of à la madness counterpoint. Magnifique..!

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 77
Johannes Brahms

German composer and pianist

Born 1833; Hamburg, Germany

Died 1897; Vienna, Austria

Opus 77 was written in 1878 while Brahms took a long summer holiday at Pörtschach on the edge of Lake Wörth in Alpine Carinthia. The tone of his letters during that time is reflective of the bright mood of the concerto itself: “Here melodies flow so easily and freely that one has to be careful not to trample any of them underfoot.” Opus 77 was completed just months after his second symphony, a detail which affords a clue to the grand orchestral architecture of the score. The concerto is dedicated to Brahm’s friend Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), the great Austrio-Hungarian violinist who also received major dedications from Robert Schumann and Antonin Dvorak.It is sometimes said that the Mount Everest of violin concertos is “The Beethoven” (in the vernacular of classical musicians). But if that is true, “The Brahms” has to be the Matterhorn. Yet, for all its daunting power, Opus 77 has a bearing so graceful that it seems borrowed from the harp strings of Orpheus.

The first movement opens with the majesty of a great mountain expanse presenting a fully symphonic ambiance before the solo violin enters, shepherd-like, with a tune of beguiling simplicity. But this is far from innocent music, about which the spectacular cadenza leaves no doubt.For sheer loveliness, a pastoral oboe pipes its charm at the beginning of the Adagio. This lyrical moment was just too much for another of Brahms’ contemporaries, the great Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate who refused to perform the concerto, remarking: “Do you think I would be so tasteless as to stand on the stage holding my violin while the oboe plays the only melody in the whole piece?” Throughout his life, Brahms carried a musical quiver full of gypsy arrows. They can be heard whistling past our ears in many guises, some more subtle than others. But there is nothing oblique about the trajectory of the third movement – here we have a Hungarian-styled rondo which cavorts from a folk-like dance to an impulsive march with gaiety and high-wire pyrotechnics from the soloist. Wunderbar..!

Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Russian composer

Born March 9, 1839; Karevo

Died March 16, 1881; St. Petersburg

Mussorgsky’s original set of ten musical images was composed for solo piano as a homage to the memory of the Russian architect and painter Victor A. Hartmann, who had been one of the composer’s closest friends. Deeply distressed by Hartmann’s passing (in 1874 at the age of 39), and after attending a memorial gallery exhibit of the artist’s works, Mussorgsky conceived the idea of a sonic exhibition via the gallery walls of a concert hall.

Included in the scheme are several promenades, spaced quite naturally as one might walk into a large exhibit room and progress from one tableau to the next. Mussorgsky’s settings are a literal series of mini-tone poems representing the specific Hartmann sketches and watercolors which had been displayed in the exhibit. The original canvases are purportedly destroyed in a fire. However, reproduced in black and white, the images can be seen in the journal Musical Quarterly (Volume 125, 1939) in an excellent essay by Alfred Frankenstein.

Although Mussorgsky’s ori-ginal setting for piano had gained considerable popularity, the brilliant orchestral transcription in 1922 by Maurice Ravel catapulted the music into the high-currency limelight. It has ever since been one of the most performed orchestral show-pieces in the symphonic repertoire.

Pictures at an Exhibition
Maurice Ravel

French composer and pianist

Born March 7, 1875; Ciboure

Died December 28, 1937; Paris

As a “walk-by” reference for the musical pictures, Mussorgsky’s use of the variable Promenade serves to escort the viewer/listener from one canvas to the next. Gnomus is a comical but grotesquely carved nutcracker, a favorite icon in Eastern Europe; The Old Castle was a Hartmann watercolor of a chateau in the Middle Ages, here portrayed by a lyrical and plaintive alto saxophone; Tuileries represents children playing hide and seek in the well-known Parisian gardens situated between the Louvre and the Champs-Élysée; Bydlo depicts a scene from the ancient village of Sandomierz, showing a cart with over-size wooden wheels drawn by two oxen, lyrically represented by a mournful, high tuba; Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks conjures Hartmann’s sketch for a children’s ballet scene where canaries are gleefully trying to hatch; Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle represent two old Jewish gentlemen who meet in the street, one rich and pompous in furs, the other humbled in tatters; for Marketplace at Limoges, Mussorgsky wrote that the music represents French “bavardes” (gossips) chatting about Monsieur’s lost cow, Madame’s false teeth, and Monsieur’s big nose; Catacombs: Roman Sepulchre is an evocation of the open, public vaults of Paris, with skeletons revealed by light from a leering lantern; about Cum mortuis in lingua mortua “With the dead, in the language of the dead,” Mussorgsky noted that “...the skulls glow under the soft light”; The Hut of Baba Yaga, is a witch in Russian folklore who terrified children from her hut built on chicken legs; The Great Gate of Kiev is a sonic caption of Hartmann’s design (never built) for a commemorative, Russian-styled Arc de Triomphe. Immense and imposing, Mussorgsky noted the work was composed as a hymn of gratitude.

Only 241 tickets remain.

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734/994-4801

American Celebration Program Notes

2010-03-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

Michigan Theater, Saturday, March 13, 2010, 8:00 PM
copyright 2010, Edward Yadzinsky

Concerto in F
George Gershwin
Born September 26, 1898; Brooklyn, New York
Died July 11, 1937; Hollywood

On the heels of Gershwin’s spectacular success with Rhapsody in Blue came a storm of requests from the highest places in the musical world. Among them was a commission by the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch to compose a "proper concerto" for the piano – which was both a compliment to Gershwin’s potential but also a sly reference to the Rhapsody as a kind of "pops" showpiece.
Agreeing to accept the challenge Gershwin later wrote:
"Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident. Well, I wanted to show that there was plenty more where that had come from. I made up my mind to do a piece of ‘absolute’ music. The Rhapsody, as its title implied, was a blues impression. The Concerto would be unrelated to any program. And that is exactly how I wrote it. I learned a great deal from that experience, particularly in the handling of instruments in combination."
The first movement of the Concerto in F is quick and pulsating, representing the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life with a Charleston motif. Later, a second theme is introduced by the piano. The second movement has a poetic nocturnal atmosphere which has come to be referred to as the American blues, but in a purer form than that in which they are usually treated. The final movement reverts to the style of the first. It is an orgy of rhythms, starting violently and keeping the same pace throughout.
Scored in 1925, for a robust 20th-century orchestra, the Concerto in F begins with the great timpani strokes which so often opened the curtains in Manhattan’s theater district (in fact Gershwin once thought to title the piece A New York Concerto). From that point on we are in for a Broadway feast of great tunes, sassy rhythms and mad-cap colors – teasing and tempting, at once replete with optimism and lush nostalgia. The second movement begins with some of the loveliest blues ever dreamed, heard in the solo trumpet over a sustained clarinet choir before the piano strides onto the scene, adding whimsy to the Impressionist tableau, which then turns brazen and boisterous before a reflecting close. Gershwin’s brief description of the final movement barely hints at the caprice of virtuoso mischief at hand – for soloist and orchestra alike – a frenzy of jazz and pizzazz to the Nth degree.
As an aside, the great pianist Artur Rubinstein once advised a New York music critic who complained about the easy popularity of jazz compared to the classics: "Kind sir, there are but two kinds of music – good and bad, and Gershwin makes me cry."
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Seattle Slew: Derby Dressage
William Bolcom
Born 1938; Seattle, Washington

A native of Seattle, Washington, William Bolcom concluded his formal study of composition with Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. In addition to his current position as professor emeritus of composition at the University of Michigan, Bolcom has been distinguished with many important awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Music, two Koussevitzky Foundation Awards, two Guggenheim Fellowships, several Rockefeller Foundation Awards and NEA Grants, the Marc Blitzstein Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, the Michigan Council for the Arts Award, and the Governor’s Arts Award from the State of Michigan. Bolcom was named 2007 Composer of the Year, and was honored with multiple Grammy Awards for his Songs of Innocence and Experience.
Commissions have included the Carnegie Hall Centennial, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philhamonic and the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Composed in 1977, Bolcom’s ballet Seattle Slew was conceived by Kent Stowell of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. A protégé of George Balanchine, Stowell was quick to realize an entertaining link between a popular icon and dance theater. 1977 was also the year in which the great race horse Seattle Slew won the elusive Triple Crown.
From the ballet score, Bolcom derived a concert suite of three orchestral pieces. The first of them, Derby Dressage, opens our A2SO concert this evening. About the music, Bolcom remarks:
"Writing simple and formally predictable music is as hard as the opposite. All the dance pieces incorporate tango and ragtime elements in mixture. Each has a set-dance quality; I wanted to see how far I could go with the regular phrase structure of these dances. I had to find a sort of series of celebratory pieces that would evoke the posed atmosphere of a racetrack – the orderedness, the old-fashioned atmosphere – thus the 16-measure tango, gavottes and rag dances."
Bolcom’s cryptic metaphor "Forequarter Time" is a delightful play on words. The composer deals a coy hand indeed with the nuance of Derby Dressage – part tango and part down-low jazz from the cabarets of the 1920s. The pace and swagger of the score is perfect for modern ballet theater. And the music surely provided plenty of time and space for colorful dancing and amusing reference for listeners. We note the strutting accent from the tuba, escorting droll woodwinds out for a stroll, swinging from major harmonies to sassy blue-notes on the fly, complete with an upright, clanky piano.
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Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95
"From the New World" Antonin Dvorak
Born September 8, 1841; Nelahozeves, Bohemia
Died May 1, 1904; Prague, Czechoslovakia

A mainstay of the symphonic repertoire, Dvorak’s New World Symphony of 1893 is a work which binds wide ethnic contrasts into a broad and universal statement about the heart and hearth of one’s homeland.
Influenced initially by Beethoven and Schubert, and later by Wagner and Liszt, the Bohemian Dvorak was able to combine his deep interest in folk idioms into the vernacular of 19th century Romanticism. By the early 1890s the composer’s reputation stretched across the whole of the European continent. Brahms was a close acquaintance, Tchaikovsky a dear friend. Dvorak even received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. In 1892 he accepted an offer to become the first Director of the new National Conservatory of Music which was about to open in New York City. While residing here in the United States he was able to spend the summer months in the little Czech community of Spillville, Iowa. Those travels into the heartland of the New World enabled him to experience several prime examples of indigenous American folk music, especially Afro-American spirituals and the rhythmic/melodic expressions of Native American tribes. Moreover, Dvorak was well acquainted with American literature, including Longfellow’s Hiawatha, and was also knowledgeable about the folk music of the American frontier, including familiarity with the popular melodies and lyrics of Stephen Foster. It is widely believed that all of this played a formative role in his New World Symphony, a work that seems to meld myriad ethnic identities into a common, pan-cultural musical statement. The symphony was completed in 1893 in New York City, the metropolis which itself had become the cultural ladle for our great American melting pot.
The New World Symphony overall maintains an evocative spirit through all four movements – especially within the languid nostalgia of the second. Its famous Largo features a haunting melody from the English horn which, in turn, is resonated with increasing depth in the choir of orchestral strings. Graphic momentum is achieved in the colorful tableaus of the first, third and fourth movements. Unmistakable throughout is Dvorak’s indelible gypsy touch, a masterful use of the orchestral palette, sharp and crisp rhythmic pointing and the gentle hues of heartache. Forward this email to a friend

American Celebration
March 13, 2010
Michigan Theater
8:00 PM
Pre-Concert Lecture at 7:00 PM
Tickets from $6 to $49
Great Seats Still Available

734/994-4801
www.a2so.com

AnnArbor.com Review of Mozart Birthday Bash

2010-01-28T06:52:00.000-08:00

Ann Arbor Symphony pulls out all the stops for Mozart Birthday Bash

The magic that is Mozart was definitely in the air Saturday night at Hill Auditorium.
The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra offered its 14th annual Mozart Birthday Bash with an all-Mozart program capped by a stunning performance of the composer’s Requiem, his final work, with the symphony augmented by a 200-voice mixed choir and four flawless soloists.
Clearly, there’s no such thing as halfway measures for this ensemble.

The evening started out with Divertimento No. 1 for Strings in D Major, K. 136, a delightful, three-movement work characterized Saturday by extremely crisp playing. It’s hard to believe this was written essentially as background music. That was followed by the Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major with A2SO horn principal Andrew Pelletier as featured soloist. Pelletier’s performance was spot on.

The Requiem, the centerpiece of the evening, featured what seemed like a cast of thousands — vocal ensembles from Pioneer, Huron and South Lyon high schools, with singers from Measure for Measure, the Choral Union, the Vocal Arts Ensemble and Temple Beth Emeth, plus soprano Jennifer Larson, alto Sarah Nisbett, tenor John Charles Pierce and bass Stephen West as soloists. Not only did everyone look great up on stage, they sounded even better. The sheer ambitiousness of the project was admirable, and the task of getting members of all these groups to coalesce into a musical whole must have been formidable. By their sound, they were clearly well-rehearsed.

The soloists were also superb. Lawson’s rich, emotional voice, with Nisbett’s warm tone and wonderfully expressive eyes, combined perfectly with Pierce and West’s powerhouse singing. Alone, each would be impressive — together they seemed a force of nature.

Appropriately, 16 chords into the “Lacrimosa” section of Requiem, conductor Arie Lipsky stopped the show to point out that those were the final notes written by the composer before his death, then restarted the music from the beginning of the movement. The mood was such that I found myself holding my breath.

With such a large group on stage it might have been easy to overlook the musicians; however, the symphony was never overwhelmed, nor did its members seem daunted by their task. Their playing was of the quality we have some to expect from the A2SO under Lipsky’s leadership; that is, a performance of which everyone can be proud.

And speaking of the maestro, Lipsky marked his 10th year at the helm of the ensemble with Saturday’s show, and he was honored with a proclamation read by Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje. Martin Philbert, who was president of the Ann Arbor Symphony Board of Directors when Lipsky was hired, also spoke, flanked on stage by three other past presidents. He said Lipsky was chosen out of a field of 247 applicants, “many world class and some aspiring to be. But only one floated to the top.”

When it comes to birthdays such as Mr. Mozart’s, there’s no such thing as too much music.

Mozart Family Concert on January 24th

2010-01-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

Young Mozart has started his 2010 world tour, with Ann Arbor as his only stop in the U.S! The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra presents the third concert in the Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Series: Mozart World Tour: Ann Arbor on January 24, 2010 in the Michigan Theater at 4pm.

During this one-hour A2SO-commissioned play, co-sponsored by Toyota, actors on stage depict Mozart’s exciting story while the symphony plays some of the composer’s greatest pieces. This concert-play presents a unique, upbeat and engaging opportunity to familiarize youngsters with Mozart’s music and have a great time.

This musical play features a script written by award-winning Ann Arbor playwright Jeff Duncan. A professor of English at Eastern Michigan University, Mr. Duncan has written three books, numerous essays, and 20 plays. He has been awarded a Creative Writing Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. Jeff is the author of the recently published “Low Crimes & Misdemeanors: Confessions of a Tulsa Boy.” Area audiences have enjoyed many of his plays written for and produced by Ann Arbor’s Wild Swan Theater.

Yesse Kim, first-place winner of the 2009 Rosalie Edwards Youth Competition, will play Mozart piano excerpts to accompany Wolfgang Mozart’s performance during the play. Kim is a Junior at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.

Treat your youngsters to a string Instrument Petting Zoo in the Michigan Theater lobby before the concerts from 2:30-3:30. Join representatives from Shar Products and the A2SO for a fun and informative adventure where your children can actually play a violin and cello that is sized for them.

Enjoy other pre-concert family fun activities including some amazing instruments from the Stearns Ancient Musical Instrument Collection.

Mozart World Tour: Ann Arbor begins at 4pm on Sunday, January 24th in the historic Michigan Theater in downtown Ann Arbor. Admission to the performance is $6 for children and $15 for adults. Tickets are available by calling 734/994-4801, visiting the A2SO office at 220 East Huron, Suite 470, M-F 9am to 5pm, online at www.a2so.com, by e-mail at a2so@a2so.com, and if not sold out, at the Michigan Theater box office starting at 2pm on the day of the concert.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of over 76,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Ypsilanti District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.

AnnArbor.com Review of A2SO Fetler CD

2009-12-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

www.annarbor.com

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Paul Fetler's music both shine on first CD
by
Susan Isaacs Nisbett

There’s something wonderful and not a little startling about holding a CD in your hand emblazoned with both the name of a major record company — Naxos — and a local institution — the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.

Let me tell you, it’s equally wonderful and not a little startling to listen to such a CD. Inside, on tracks that offer three works from American composer Paul Fetler, is a fine reminder of the sort of major-league playing the orchestra has been doing under conductor Arie Lipsky. In a blind taste test, local symphony or regional orchestra would not be your first picks. The playing is vital, alive and utterly polished.

The CD was recorded live over the course of concerts in 2007 and 2008 that featured Fetler’s Violin Concerto No. 2, with A2SO concertmaster Aaron Berofsky as soloist; his “Capriccio;” and his “Three Poems by Walt Whitman,” with Thomas H. Blaske as narrator. Fetler, now 89, was on hand for all the occasions, just as he was last week for a CD release party the A2SO hosted at the Michigan Theater. (The CD was released Dec. 15; it’s been available to download since fall.)

Paul Fetler counts himself delighted with this first recording devoted entirely to his work. And Lipsky, in typical fashion, counts the CD important not just for highlighting the orchestra’s work but for highlighting Fetler’s contributions to American music.

Those contributions should draw listeners in to this CD, the newest addition to Naxos’ “American Classics” series. Fetler’s evocative lyricism is a luscious underpinning in music that is itself protean in color, style and mood. "Three Poems by Walt Whitman” celebrates a quintessential American poet in a three-movement tone poem for orchestra and narrator that was a a Bicentennial commission. Unlike most such “pieces d’occasion,” this one is a keeper, rapturous, potent and atmospheric in its evocations of Whitman’s poems of nature, war and childhood.
Concertmaster Berofsky is wondrous in the violin solos — a feat he repeats in spades in the violin concerto on the disk. And in the dazzling “Capriccio,” it’s principal flute Penelope Fischer’s turn to shine.But the orchestra, under Lipsky’s direction, shines throughout. If you loved the concerts — or missed them — you’ll love this CD. And as an Ann Arborite, it’ll make you proud to claim the A2SO as the city’s own.

You can also claim the landscape on the CD cover: the stunning scene is the Huron River at sunset, courtesy of Dave Siefkes, the A2SO’s marketing director, who snapped the picture.

Sample the music from the CD on the Naxos web site here (login required).

The CD is available for purchase at Borders, Barnes & Noble and the A2SO office (220 East Huron, Suite 470), with a $10.99 suggested retail price. It is also available for download at the Naxos web site.

A2SO's New CD Features the Work of Paul Fetler

2009-12-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is throwing a party. They are celebrating the release of their first CD, on Thursday, December 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the lobby of the Michigan Theater just in time for holiday giving. A digital download has been available since September.

What began as a longtime mutual goal of Music Director Arie Lipsky, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra musicians, board and staff will become a reality this Thursday with the unveiling of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s first CD, manufactured and distributed on the internationally acclaimed NAXOS label.

The recording, part of the NAXOS American Classics series, consists of three works by American composer Paul Fetler that were featured in live performances by the A2SO through the last several seasons. Fetler will be on hand Thursday to sign copies of the recording. He will be joined by the A2SO’s Music Director, Maestro Arie Lipsky; A2SO Concertmaster Aaron Barofsky, soloist in the Violin Concerto No. 2; and Ann Arbor poet and attorney, Thomas Blaske, the narrator of 3 Poems by Walt Whitman. The suggested retail price is $10.99 and will be available at Borders, Barnes & Noble and the A2SO office.

On Sunday, December 6, Chris Felcyn from Detroit radio station WRCJ (90.9 FM) was the first to broadcast the new CD playing Fetler’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

This is the first CD devoted exclusively to Fetler’s music, which exudes expressive power and offers immediate appeal. “My goal is the merger of listener and music,” he wrote. The selections on this A2SO recording epitomize Fetler’s style, which he characterizes as “progressive lyricism.” The composer’s deft handling of orchestral color and texture is met by subtle skill and sheer ebullience from Lipsky, soloists, and A2SO musicians alike, all in top form.

After early years spent in Europe, Fetler trained in the US and taught at the University of Minnesota where he currently holds the position of Professor Emeritus. “To work with Aaron, Tom and Arie was a pleasure,” said Fetler, “We understood each other in every aspect – and the audience was with us. Small details and adjustments were made in the rehearsals, resulting in a moving and memorable performance.”
When Maestro Lipsky was principal cellist in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1980s, he played a tremendous amount of new music under then conductor Semyon Bychkov who introduced him to Three Poems by Walt Whitman. After the A2SO’s performance of Lincoln Portraits, where former U-M coaches Lloyd Carr and Tommy Amaker served as narrators, Lipsky and Tom Blaske (the narration coach for the two coaches) brainstormed about other pieces with narration. Blaske, a Walt Whitman scholar who publishes under a pseudonym in The New Yorker, and Lipsky immediately felt that this would be an exciting feature to an upcoming A2SO concert. Composer Paul Fetler was contacted and Three Poems by Walt Whitman was performed by the A2SO to tremendous critical acclaim in April 2006. Reaction was so positive, thoughts turned to one of the A2SO’s long-term goals… to record a CD professionally.

W. Guy Barast, then Development Director of the A2SO, and David Lau, owner of Brookwood Studios were each impressed by that performance and contacted friends at NAXOS. Talks began about recording Fetler’s works. Barast wrote a successful grant proposal to the NEA for a $10,000 grant to support the project. Concurrently, a new American Federation of Musicians union regulation making the recording of CDs live at a concert was instituted, so Lipsky programmed the upcoming two seasons with three significant Fetler compositions.

The energy of the A2SO performing live in front of audiences is an integral part of the recordings.

Paul Fetler
Fetler was born in the United States and spent his youth in Eastern Europe, particularly in Latvia, where the influences of Russian culture made a great impression upon him. At the age of six he experimented at the piano with sound combinations which he found expressive, in one case particularly descriptive of a painting of a queen’s lavish coronation. Fetler credits his mother with making sure that his musical training was uninterrupted, despite the family’s frequent changes of residence, including a couple of years in both Sweden and Switzerland.
Fetler studied at Northwestern University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree under David Van Vactor. His Master’s degree was at Yale, where he studied with Quincy Porter and Paul Hindemith. He took advanced compositional studies with Boris Blacher at the Berlin Academy of Music. He accepted a post at the University of Minnesota, where he later completed his doctorate and where he taught composition and also composed for many years. His compositions include over 150 works in diverse genres. Many of these have been performed by leading orchestras, soloists, choral ensembles and chamber groups across the United States and Europe. He has been the recipient of important awards from the Society for the Publication of American Music, the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota.

Arie Lipsky, Music Director and Conductor

“My goal as a conductor is to be a musician who puts the music first, and to make sure what the composer wrote is delivered to the audience.”

Maestro Lipsky took the podium of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 2000 - 2001 concert season. He comes to Ann Arbor from his position as Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and currently the Music Director and Conductor of the Ashland, Ohio Symphony, and Director of Chamber Music at the Chautauqua Institution. A native of Haifa, Israel, Mr. Lipsky has also conducted the Charleston, Indianapolis and New Jersey Symphonies and the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. His training as a concert ’cellist included advanced study with Leonard Rose and master classes with Pablo Casals. He is also an accomplished flautist. He holds degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and in Music which he received prior to serving in the Israeli Army. While still in his native country, he studied conducting with Noam Sheriff and Yoël Levi. After moving to the United States, Mr. Lipsky served as Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Ohio Opera. He moved to Buffalo, New York in 1984 to become the Buffalo Philharmonic’s principal ’cellist and in 1988, he became its Assistant Conductor. It was here where Mr. Lipsky met Paul Fetler and first performed Fetler’s Three Poems by Walt Whitman. A member of the New Arts Trio, Mr. Lipsky records on the Fleur de Son Classics Label.

Thomas H. Blaske

A little known, much-loved raconteur about Ann Arbor, Tom is the kind of man who would own two all-black dogs and call them Blanche and Ruby. A lifelong scholar of the good gray poet, Walt Whitman, he writes poetry under a pseudonym in the New Yorker.

Tom is one of Michigan’s top trial attorneys who teaches trial advocacy skills and ethics in Michigan and throughout the Midwest. Music has always been part of Tom’s life, starting with listening to family recordings of Fritz Kreisler and Stephen Foster and singing in the Battle Creek Chorus as a youngster, to playing tuba in the University of Michigan Marching Band under William Revelli.

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1928, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s first major program was played in November, 1931. Since 1986 the A2SO has been a fully professional orchestra, first under the baton of Carl St.Clair, then under Samuel Wong. Arie Lipsky was the unanimous choice to succeed Samuel Wong in 2000. Under his leadership, the A2SO has been favorably compared to both the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A key component of the A2SO’s mission is education and outreach. The orchestra’s in-school educational programs and annual Youth Concerts currently reach almost 50,000 students each year. Many or these dynamic programs bring professional A2SO musicians directly into school classrooms.

The A2SO was heard over National Public Radio in November, 2004, in a performance of Once Upon a Castle, a commission created by composer Michael Daugherty to celebrate the A2SO’s and Michigan Theater’s joint 75th Anniversaries. Built in 1928, the Michigan Theater is one of America’s last great “movie palaces.” Saved from the wrecking ball in the 1980s, it is now a vibrant cultural center, and is listed on the American Historical Register. The Michigan Theater is the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s home.

For a free sneak preview of the music, visit www.naxos.com, keyword Fetler.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of over 76,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Ypsilanti District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.

Celebrating Mozart's Birthday

2009-12-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

This is a birthday bash you just don’t want to miss! The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra continues its Season of Celebration with the 14th annual “Mozart Birthday Bash” concert on January 23, 2010 at Hill Auditorium at 8 PM. Joining the Orchestra onstage are Dr. Andrew Pelletier, horn, soprano Jennifer Larson, alto Sarah Nisbett, tenor John Charles Pierce, and bass Stephen West. This concert, sponsored by the Carl and Isabelle Brauer Fund, commemorates conductor Maestro Arie Lipsky’s tenth season as conductor of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.

First on the all-Mozart program is the Divertimento K. 136. Divertimenti are light-hearted pieces, written to be played at social functions, and generally are not bound to the formal guidelines that govern most other genres of classical music. In other words, this divertimento is truly light party music, a perfect choice to begin a birthday celebration.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra Horn Principal, Dr. Andrew Pelletier is the featured soloist in Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major. Mozart wrote all four horn concerti for his friend, Joseph Leutgeb. Mozart took delight in making them as tricky as he could (especially by the standards of the day). From odd markings to even completely unrelated interjections, Mozart seemed to be challenging Leutgeb and the soloist to keep a straight face! It is a short work of only about 15 minutes, and uses clarinet and bassoon with strings as its instrumentation to create a warm, rich core to support the horn.

A choir of over 200 voices from Pioneer High School, Huron High School and South Lyon High School, enriched by singers from Measure for Measure, Choral Union, Vocal Arts Ensemble and Temple Beth Emeth, joins the Orchestra for Mozart’s famous Requiem Mass in D minor. The mass was commissioned anonymously by count Franz von Walsegg, who wanted to pass the piece off as his own to commemorate the recent death of his wife. Walsegg was an amateur musician and composer, and so this ruse could have been believable. Mozart was in declining health at this point, though, and he died before even completing the Requiem. Franz Xaver Süssmayr later finished orchestrating it from what Mozart left, producing the version with which audiences are familiar today. One highlight of the work is the prominent use of trombones. For centuries, the trombone was considered the instrument of death, associated with fear and mortality, and Mozart makes hauntingly appropriate use of them in this requiem setting.

Horn soloist Dr. Andrew Pelletier won the first prize in the 1997 and 2001 American Horn Competitions. In 2005, Southwest Chamber Music, of which he is a member, won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Recording (small ensemble category). He has played with numerous major symphonies, including Toledo and Portland, Maine. His playing can be heard in many major motion pictures, including Lethal Weapon 4 and The X-Men. Dr. Pelletier serves as Assistant Professor of Horn at Bowling Green State University. Pelletier has played with the A2SO since the fall of 2006. He sits in the Sherman and Sylvia Funk Principal Horn Chair.

Jennifer Larson has been described by USA Today as possessing a "golden voice." As a soprano and popular soloist, Jennifer has sung with many symphonies and choirs including the Utah Symphony, the Madeline Choir, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Jennifer has been singing professionally in New York since 2000 and she has also acquired a regular back-up band. The A2SO welcomes Larson back to sing again after her outstanding performance in the Magic Flute last season.

Ann Arbor native Sarah Nisbett performed with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in last year’s sellout performance of The Magic Flute. She was a first-prize winner of the 2007 National Opera Association Vocal Competition, and has played many significant roles in the opera repertoire, including the title role of Handel’s Oreste and Marcellina in Mozart’s the Marriage of Figaro.

John Charles Pierce completed his Bachelor and Master of Music at the University of Illinois and pursued his Doctorate at the University of Indiana. As a Heldentenor, John has won the Wagner Prize and has appeared in European and American operas and concerts alike. He is sought after due to his very rich voice. Pierce is a honorary member of the International Hans von Buelow Society based out of Europe.

Stephen West is Professor of Voice at the University of Michigan. He was also a performer for last year’s “Birthday Bash,” starring as Pagapeno in the Magic Flute. West has appeared with many internationally renowned companies, including the Opera National de Paris, Deutsche Staatsoper, Teatro Carlo Felice, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. His repertoire covers all areas of the spectrum, from roles in Mozart’s operas to Wagnerian epics, and even the Wizard in the musical Wicked, which he played in Denver.

Maestro Arie Lipsky leads the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra for his tenth season. His esteem in the music world is not limited to his baton. Maestro Lipsky is also a well-trained flautist and cellist. In addition to music, he holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and served in the Israeli Army. Esteemed conductor Yoel Levi says of him, “As a musician Arie is first class; his technique is excellent, his memory outstanding.” Ann Arbor has seen tremendous musical growth under his baton. He is a member of the New Arts Trio, which has released CD recordings to critical acclaim.

A pre-concert lecture covering the evening’s repertoire will take place from 7:00-7:30pm on the main floor of Hill Auditorium. Lecturers will include Maestro Arie Lipsky, vocal soloists, and A2SO principal horn and soloist Andrew Pelletier.

The Mozart Birthday Bash begins at 8pm on Saturday, January 23rd in Hill Auditorium in downtown Ann Arbor. Tickets range from $6 to $49 and are available by calling 734/994-4801, visiting the A²SO office at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, M-F 9 am to 5 pm and the day of the concert from 9 am to 1 pm, and online at www.a2so.com. Ticket sales have been brisk. If there are any remaining tickets, they will be available at the Hill Auditorium box office starting at 6 pm the day of the concert. Discounts on tickets include $2 off for senior citizens. All students are eligible to receive a 50% discount on any ticket over $10. Music and Humanities students from Pioneer, Huron, and Skyline High Schools are invited to attend Mozart’s Birthday Bash at no cost. Call 734/994-4801 to reserve tickets or show school ID at the door the day of the concert starting at 6 pm.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of almost 80,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Ypsilanti District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.

Beethoven Festival Near Sellout

2009-09-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

When Maestro Arie Lipsky took the stage Saturday night, there were very few seats that were empty. At the end of the concert, every seat was empty... for a standing ovation.

The Beethoven Festival Concert started off with the Coriolan Overture, full of emotion and drama. The high-point of the concert was the Violin Concerto with guest soloist Ilya Kaler. Mr. Kaler took the stage with a $1.5 million Guarnerius violin on loan from the Stradavari Society of Chicago. WOW! Can he play the violin. Beethoven has never sounded better. It is obvious that Ilya Kaler is the only violin solist to win all three major competitions.

The audience even applauded (rightly s0) after the first movement. He was that good.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra ended the concert with Symphony No. 4. Someone once said that if it wasn't for Beethoven's 3rd and 5th symphonys, the 4th would have been considered a masterpiece.

It was a masterpiece on Saturday.

The next concert, Serenade For Strings is on October 17th at 8:00 PM in the Michigan Theater. It will feature the up-and-coming cellist David Requiro. Maestro Lipsky calls him "the next Yo-Yo Ma. Mr. Requiro just took first place in the prestigous Naumberg Violincello contest and will play one of the most technically difficult cello solos ever written... Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2.

Maestro Lipsky is really looking forward to working with the recent University of Michigan Masters graduate.

Dave

Subscription Ticket Sales Are Brisk

2009-06-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Arie Lipsky announced the 2009-2010 Season of Celebration, 29 concerts which will bring to the stage some of the country’s best soloists to make wonderful music with this resident, professional orchestra. Season tickets sales have been way ahead of last year.

“The quality of our music has never been better and patrons are showing their confidence in and enthusiasm for their orchestra and our heartfelt music making,” said Maestro Arie Lipsky, A2SO Music Director and Conductor. “Patrons who enjoyed a concert last year are buying tickets for our entire season this year.”

The new season will celebrate some of the most powerful music ever written by composers such as Mozart, Brahms, Gershwin, Bolcom, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and more.

This season is also a celebration of the local, with all of the guest artists having a strong Ann Arbor connection. These include Concertmaster Aaron Berofsky, Principal Horn Andrew Pelletier, pianist Anton Nel, cellist David Requiro, and singers John Pierce, and Sarah Nisbett, Jennifer Larson and Stephen West who wowed the audience singing in A2SO’s production of the Magic Flute, and many more.

“We sold out two concerts last season,” said Mary Steffek Blaske, Executive Director of the A2SO, “and we will sell out more concerts this season. We are over 100 subscribers ahead of last year at this time, and they won’t be disappointed. It’s all about the music.”

Classical series concerts will take place on Saturdays at 8 pm in the Michigan Theater, except for the Mozart Birthday Bash, which will be presented in Hill Auditorium. At 7 pm before every Classical Series concert, there will be a pre-concert lecture. Family Series concerts will also be presented at the Michigan Theater at 4 pm on Sundays (Sing Along with Santa is presented in the Bethlehem United Church of Christ on Saturday, December 12th ).Afternoon Delights concerts will be performed at the Jewish Community Center at 1:30 with a dessert reception at 1:00.

Beethoven Festival, September 12. The concert that starts off the season celebrates the master of the Romantic Age, featuring the epic Coriolan Overture. The orchestra will also play the timeless Violin Concerto with Ilya Kaler, the only violinist to win all three major international violin competitions (Tchaikovsky/Sibelius/Paganini). The first annual Beethoven Festival concludes with Beethoven’s endearing Symphony No. 4. Ilya Kaler is sponsored by AAA of Michigan. The concert is sponsored by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Michigan Transplant Center with support from the MCACA.

Serenade For Strings, October 17. Burnished strings breathe life into three classics including Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis composed by Vaughan Williams, full of melodies of splendid beauty. On the same program are Tchaikovsky’s enchanting Serenade for Strings and Haydn’s poignant Cello Concerto No. 2 in D with David Requiro, first-place winner of the 2009 Naumburg award. The concert is sponsored by Campbell Industries.

Brahms & Friends, November 14. Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes begins the concert with its cozy tunes and Klezmer colors. The concert continues with Bizet’s first and only symphony, written at age 16, Symphony No. 1 in C Major. Piano Concerto No. 2 by Brahms is filled with exalted themes and probing harmonies and features stellar pianist Anton Nel. The Ray & Eleanor Cross Foundation sponsors this concert.

Mozart Birthday Bash, January 23 in Hill Auditorium. A trio of the master’s greatest works: Divertimento K. 136, Horn Concerto No. 3 featuring the A2SO’s Principal Horn Andrew Pelletier and one of the richest pieces of music ever created, Mozart’s Requiem. The Requiem features soprano Jennifer Larson, Alto Sarah Nisbett, Tenor John Charles Pierce and Bass Stephen West. The concert is sponsored by the Carl and Isabelle Brauer Fund.

American Celebration, March 13. A coast-to-coast concert including Ann Arbor’s own Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, William Bolcom’s Seattle Slew: Three Dances in Forequarter Time. Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, initially titled the New York Concerto, features sought-after pianist, Arkadiy Figlin. Dvořāk pays homage to the folk spirit of the American heartland with his Symphony No. 9 “From the New World.” This concert is co-sponsored by Bank of Ann Arbor.

Musical Portraits, April 24. The final Classical Series concert of the season celebrates the landmark opening of the new University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center. One of the greatest violin concertos ever written, Brahms’s Violin Concerto features A2SO Concertmaster Aaron Berofsky. The Roman Carnival Overture by Berlioz features themes from his opera Benvenuto Cellini. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition remains one of the most appealing symphonic works.

This concert will also unveil the winners of the Sight & Sound Competition, a collaboration of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Film Festival and the U-M School of Music Composition Department. Four pieces of music will be chosen from submissions by students in the department. There will then be a contest for filmmakers to submit a film set to one of the four pieces. One amateur and one professional winner will be selected and their films will play on a screen while the orchestra performs the selected compositions. The concert is sponsored by the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center.

This year there will be four Family Series concerts. The Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Series includes:

The Chenille Sisters with Ariel & Zoey, November 15, 4:00 at the Michigan Theater. The Chenilles take ordinary things like washing machines or fruit and make songs with them. Music from Disney movies will also be included in the program, so come dressed as your favorite character. Local twins Ariel & Zoey, back from a summer of singing for our country’s troops, will sing their new song. Pre-concert activities start at 2:30 and include making instruments to play along with the Chenilles.

Mozart World Tour: Ann Arbor, January 24, 4:00 at the Michigan Theater. In this commissioned one-hour play by Ann Arbor Playwright Jeff Duncan, actors will tell young Mozart’s story on the only stop on his 2010 tour while the orchestra plays some of his greatest music. Pre-concert activities start at 2:30.

Star-Spangled Music, March 14, 4:00 at the Michigan Theater. This is a celebration of American music from several eras including Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for a Common Man and Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman. A young soloist will be featured. Pre-concert activities start at 2:30.

The fourth Family Series concert is Sing-Along with Santa, December 12, 4:00 at the Bethlehem United Church of Christ. Get in the holiday spirit with Saint Nick himself in a family-friendly Christmas show that’s full of holiday songs and storytelling. There are refreshments and pictures of the kids with Santa after the show.

There will be five Afternoon Delights chamber concerts on Wednesdays at the Jewish Community Center on September 23, October 14, November 18, April 21 and May 26 with performances by chamber ensembles. A dessert reception is at 1:00, followed by the concert at 1:30. Afternoon Delights is sponsored by CFI Group with support from MCACA.

There will also be twelve KinderConcerts on November 13, February 5, and May 7 at the Ann Arbor District Library and on November 16, February 8, and May 10 at the Ypsilanti District Library. There will also be a KinderConcert at the Dexter District Library with a date to be announced. The KinderConcerts are sponsored by the Ann Arbor Kiwanis Club and the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor.

To order season subscriptions, call 734/994-4801; mail 220 E. Huron Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104; fax 734/994-3949; email a2so@a2so.com; online at www.a2so.com. Classical Series Season tickets can be purchased now starting at $24. New Classical Series subscribers can buy one season ticket and get one season ticket free.

Also available now are Afternoon Delights Season tickets for $35 for all five concerts and Family Series Concert Season tickets starting at $36 for Adults and $18 for Children.

Classical Series single tickets range from $6 to $49 dollars, Afternoon Delights singles are $8 and Family Series single tickets are $15 for Adults and $6 for children.

Individual tickets will be available beginning July 15.

All students receive a 50% discount for single tickets and season packages in Sections A-D.