June 8, 2010
MSU Symphony Orchestra announces 2010-11 season
Contact: Kathleen Adams
MSU College of Music Communications Office
(517) 353-9958, adamsk10@msu.edu
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra announces its 2010-11
season, which promises an exciting, diverse repertoire and renowned guest artists – all notable soloists who
perform with major orchestras.
Maestro Leon Gregorian, music director-conductor of MSU orchestras, promises high quality performances
from the 110-member ensemble made up of the top student musicians in the College of Music.
“When people come and hear this orchestra play,” Gregorian says, “if they close their eyes, they will not
know that young people are playing. We don’t play miniatures. We play the same repertoire that the big
orchestras in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Boston play. We may have more rehearsals, but that’s the
advantage of being a first-class university ensemble. We certainly have the talent.”
The diverse repertoire includes classics by Beethoven, Debussy, Bartok, Brahms, and Saint-Saëns as well
as two world premiere concertos.
MSU Symphony Orchestra lineup includes:
Concert 1: Saturday, September 25, 2010, 8 p.m., Wharton Center, Leon Gregorian, conductor
The MSU Symphony Orchestra opens the season with Rossini’s William Tell Overture. This well
known, energetic piece is particularly familiar to audiences through its use in television and radio
shows of The Lone Ranger, and because of its prominence in several films.
Joining the orchestra for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, is Ralph Votapek, a legend among the
Lansing musical community, the gold medalist of the first Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition, and winner of the prestigious Naumburg Award. Votapek, professor emeritus of piano at
MSU, will perform this brilliant concerto, which includes one of the most challenging cadenzas in the
classical piano repertoire.
The concert will conclude with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 portraying possibly the composer’s
most important and popular work. Written in 1937, this piece marked his acceptance by the Soviet
regime, which had openly criticized his earlier music as being too technical and complex.
Concert 2: Friday, October 22, 2010, 8 p.m., Wharton Center, Leon Gregorian, conductor
Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, one of four overtures that Beethoven wrote for Fidelio, opens
the concert representing the composer’s heroic introduction to his only opera about love’s triumph over
injustice and oppression.
Guest artist Roberto Diaz, formerly the principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and current
president of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, will join the orchestra to perform a world
premiere viola concerto. Written for Diaz by MSU’s Ricardo Lorenz, associate professor of
composition, the new piece entitled Canciones de Jara, or Jara’s Songs, adds something substantial to
the slim repertoire for solo viola, says Gregorian. Lorenz says he seeks to capture the spirit of the late
Chilean singer/songwriter Victor Jara's beautiful melodies and socially driven lyrics in this new
composition.
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Michigan State University College of Music • 102 Music Building • East Lansing, MI 48824
P: 517-353-9958 • F: 517-432-7081
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MSU Symphony Orchestra announces 2010-11 season
Ravel’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition closes the concert. Ravel’s
interpretation of this signature piece is considered one of the greatest orchestrations ever done for any
given work, says Gregorian. “It’s a jewel.”
Concert 3: Saturday, November 13, 2010, 8 p.m., St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 955 Alton Road, East
Lansing, Leon Gregorian, conductor
Carnival Overture by Dvořák promises to jumpstart this concert with energy and exuberance. This
bubbly, and romantic piece was written in 1891 as the middle work in a set of three overtures titled
Nature, Life and Love. Like so much of Dvořák’s music, it is full of dance rhythms and the sounds of
folk music from his native Bohemia.
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Schumann’s birth, guest artist Suren Bagratuni, cellist and
chairperson of the string area at the College of Music, will perform one of his favorite concertos with
the orchestra – Schumann’s Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra. Written near the end of
Schumann’s career, the concerto was labeled by legendary cellist Pablo Casals as “one of the finest
works one could wish to hear.”
Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, considered one of the master’s greatest and most beautiful compositions,
will be the final piece in this concert. “Portraying his incredible imagination and fine craftsmanship,”
says Gregorian, “this piece is one of Brahms’ most beautiful works.”
Concert 4: Saturday, February 5, 2011, 8 p.m., Wharton Center, Raphael Jimenez, conductor
Featuring early 20th century music, this concert will show the audience where the romantic period
ends and the 20th century period begins. Debussy’s Prélude à L’après – midi d’un faune, inspired
by Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem, is like listening to an impressionist painting, says Greogorian. One of
Debussy's most famous works, it is considered a turning point in the history of music.
Pianists Deborah Moriarty and George Vatchnadze along with percussionists Gwen Burgett Thrasher
and Jon Weber will join the orchestra for Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra by
Bartok. Full of folk elements, dancing rhythms, and showing Bartok’s passion for nationalism, this
work was first written as a sonata in 1937 but was orchestrated in 1940 in hopes of attracting a larger
audience.
The 1947 version of Petrushka by Stravinsky, the music from the famous Russian ballet, tells the
story of a straw puppet that comes to life. Written for a large orchestra, Stravinsky’s music is full of
emotion and a strong sense of fantasy.
Concert 5: Saturday, February 26, 2011, 8 p.m., Wharton Center, Leon Gregorian, conductor
The orchestra will open this concert with Richard Strauss’ Festliches Präludium, a grandiose but
joyful overture. The piece is considered one of Strauss’ least subtle compositions full of organ chords
and brass fanfares.
The orchestra will present a world premiere, entitled Double Concerto by William Brohn, College
of Music alumnus and award-winning orchestrator and composer. Guest artists Elsa Ludewig-
Verdehr, clarinet, and Walter Verdehr, violin, will be the featured performers in this new piece with
a Spanish flavor.
Symphony No. 3 (the Organ Symphony) by Saint-Saëns features local organist Stephen Lange, from
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Lansing. The final movement of this crowd-pleasing audience favorite
was prominently featured in the movie Babe.
Tickets for each of the previously listed concerts are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors; they can be
purchased at the door 30 minutes before the event or at 102 Music Building during business hours.
Admission is free for students with ID and anyone under 18 years of age.
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MSU Symphony Orchestra announces 2010-11 season
Other events featuring the MSU Symphony Orchestra:
MSU Opera Theatre and Symphony Orchestra presents La Finta Giardiniera by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart
Friday-Sunday, November 19-21, 2010
8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. and 3 p.m. Sun., Fairchild Theatre, Raphael Jimenez, conductor, Melanie Helton,
director
La Finta Giardiniera, written by Mozart at age 18, has only recently found a place in the standard operatic
repertoire. The plot involves disguised countesses, lusty mayors, frustrated servants and long-lost lovers, all
surrounded by Mozart’s confectionary music. A preview lecture will be held 45 minutes before each
performance. Reserved seating only.
Tickets: $20, $18, $10, available from the Wharton Center Box Office only. (517) 432-2000, (800) WHARTON
or visit www.whartoncenter.com
MSU’s Home for the Holidays
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 8 p.m., Wharton Center
A festive pops concert featuring Holiday favorites and surprises and showcasing the talents of MSU’s
Symphony Orchestra, State Singers, Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs, and the MSU Children’s Choir.
Tickets: $20, $18, $10, available from the Wharton Center Box Office only. (517) 432-2000, (800) WHARTON
or visit www.whartoncenter.com
MSU Opera Theatre and Symphony Orchestra presents Grapes of Wrath by Ricky Ian Gordon
Friday-Sunday, April 1-3, 2011
8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. and 3 p.m. Sun., Concert Auditorium, Raphael Jimenez, conductor, Melanie Helton,
director
The Grapes of Wrath is Ricky Ian Gordon’s monumental setting of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning
1939 novel of the Dust Bowl. The opera tells the story of the Joad Family, uprooted from their farm in
Oklahoma and forced to journey to California in search of work. A preview lecture will be held 45 minutes
before each performance. Reserved seating only.
Tickets: $20, $18, $10, available from the Wharton Center Box Office only. (517) 432-2000, (800) WHARTON
or visit www.whartoncenter.com
2011 Honors Concert
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Wharton Center
Annual program features, as soloists, competition winners selected by nationally recognized musicians.
Being selected for this honor is the highest performance achievement for College of Music students.
Tickets for each of the previously listed concerts are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors; they can be
purchased at the door 30 minutes before the event or at 102 Music Building during business hours.
Admission is free for students with ID and anyone under 18 years of age.
Verdi’s Requiem
Saturday, April 30, 2011, 8 p.m., Wharton Center
One of the most moving choral works ever composed, Giuseppe Verdi’s intensely dramatic
Requiem considers the meaning of life and death through magnificent passages of delicate beauty
and urgent force. This epic work – a timeless examination of faith, doubt, heaven, and hell – will
be performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra, University Chorale, State Singers, Choral Union,
and soloists Melanie Helton, soprano, Molly Fillmore, mezzo-soprano, Richard Fracker, tenor, and Rod
Nelman, bass.
Tickets: $20, $18, $10, available from the Wharton Center Box Office only. (517) 432-2000, (800) WHARTON
or visit www.whartoncenter.com
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