Concert #5: Sight of Sound, Tuesday, April 28th

New Silent Films for Pairing with Music

Greig, Pärt, Vivaldi, Elgar, Schubert and others

8:00 pm – Dallas City Performance Hall

2520 Flora Street | Dallas, Texas 75201 (map it)

Program

The season concludes with selections from the second annual Sight of Sound International Film Competition. Sponsored in part by the Video Association of Dallas, we will debut entries from filmmakers across the globe who have created new visual art for pairing with classical music. This year we are exploring music by Grieg, Pärt, Vivaldi, Elgar, Schubert and others. Final details of the program will be announced later this year.

About Sight of Sound

We listen to a piece and are moved by its highs and lows, the dips and pivots it takes as it pulls us through time. But what does music look like? Examining the notes of a score hardly elicits the same emotions as hearing them played. So we asked ourselves; how do we transfer the essence of music from the ear to the eye? From this, Sight of Sound was born.

Filmmakers often create new films, and then enhance them by adding a soundtrack. They find themselves searching for the perfect recording to add to their visual creations. And, in some cases, film composers are consulted, and tasked with creating the perfect musical accompaniment to the action on screen.

Sight of Sound is all about the reversal of this cinematic process. It is the first and only competition of its kind in the world, as it asks filmmakers to create a visual work of art this is designed to serve and enhance the drama in the musical score. Sight of Sound is about finding ways to visualize music, tell amazing stories, and breathe new life into some of classical music’s greatest masterpieces.

http://www.dallaschambersymphony.org/portfolio-item/concert-5-april-28th/

A GRAND GERSHWIN FINALE

April 18, 2015 • 8:00 PM • St. Andrew UMC

PURCHASE TICKETS

Hector Guzman, Conductor
Alex McDonald, Piano

Please note that seating at St. Andrew is reserved to a particular row and not a specific seat.

Gershwin: Cuban Overture
Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F
Gershwin: Lullaby for Strings
Gershwin: I Got RhythmVariations for Piano and Orchestra
Gershwin: An American in Paris

Hector Guzman and the Plano Symphony conclude the 2014 - 2015 season with a celebration of one of the most beloved composers of all times - George Gershwin. The American composer’s works span popular and classical music. Several of his best known works include Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and the opera, Porgy and Bess. This festive finale begins with Gershwin’s sparkling Cuban Overture. The performance includes a PSO debut with the scintillating I Got Rhythm Variations for Piano and Orchestra and the Piano Concerto in F performed by Alex McDonald. McDonald made his orchestra debut at age 11 and has gone on to perform with numerous orchestras, was a featured performer on From the Top on National Public Radio, and studied in Dallas for 13 years with Lois Nielson with coaching from Stephen Nielson, Pamela Paul and Sam Wong. He is a graduate of New England Conservatory, holds a Masters from Juilliard and is currently completing a Doctorate at Juilliard. The season concludes with Gershwin’s An American in Paris, based on Gershwin’s perceptions of Paris during a visit.

http://planosymphony.org/concerts/14-15/8-gershwin.asp

Good Friday: Messiah Concert

Come honor our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with this glorious performance of the Messiah. 

Reception in Watson Hall featuring ArtReach Gallery's collection, "Passion and Resurrection"

Event Details

Day:Friday

Time:7:00pm

Location:LLUMC-Sanctuary

Cost:FREE - Donations accepted

Contact:Jimmy Emery, Director of Music
music@llumc.org

Childcare:No

http://llumc.org/events/details/2015/04/03/good-friday-messiah-concert/

2015 ASTA National Conference 
March 18-21, 2015
Salt Lake City, UT

Double Bass Boot Camp
Please join us for this intensive, hands-on class for non-bassist string teachers! It will help develop confidence for demonstration and provide a wealth of bass knowledge through: fundamentals; group technique exercises; common issues and pedagogical strategies; fingering and bowing similarities differences from other string instruments; suggestions for bass sectionals; thumb position; strategies for not ignoring the bass section in rehearsals and more.
Presenters: Jack Unzicker; Eric Hansen

http://www.astaweb.com/Public/Conferences/2015_National_Conference/Pre-Conference_Sessions/Public/Conferences/Pre-Conference_Sessions.aspx?conferences=1&hkey=8a4b5808-eb37-405a-9d84-a5c2d18cc9e8

An Afternoon of
Chamber Music 

Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, Op. 82                            Joaquín Turina    Adagio, Allegro moderato                                                           (1882-1949)

Duos for Violin and Bass                                             George B. Chave
    Tango                                                   (b. 1959)

Sonata No. 3 in A Minor    Antonio Vivaldi
Largo    (1678-1741)
Allegro

Reverie in E Minor    Giovanni Bottesini

        (1821-1889)

Madrigal sobre un tema popular (El cant dels ocells)         Xavier Montsalvatge    (1912-2002)

When they saw the rising glow of God’s great star,
Which floods the earth abright;,
The birds arise in song, warbling all night long,
of joy and glad tidings.

Come, birds, come, and rejoice in the dawn,
And with the great lady;

Magpie, thrush and jay say “May is here”;
The goldfinch answers: “Every tree revives,

Every plant abloom as if it were spring.”

Kathy Fox Powell, soprano
Martha Walvoord, violin
Jack Unzicker, bass
Linton Powell, piano

THE MUSICIANS

Dr. Martha Walvoord, Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Texas at Arlington, is an active soloist, chamber musician, educator, and recitalist. Described by American Record Guide as “an enthusiastic and expressive player,” recent solo appearances have taken Walvoord to China, Hong Kong, Spain, England, Costa Rica, and across the US including her performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Quingdao Symphony Orchestra. Walvoord’s Spain tours have taken her across the country.  She has been invited to perform in Madrid’s historic Auditorio del Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Girona’s Casa de Cultura, and at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona. Walvoord is committed to the promotion of new music.  She has commissioned, assisted, recorded, and premiered works by composers George Chave, Michael Daugherty, David Lefkowitz, and Matthew Tommasini.  In 2010, Centaur Records released Walvoord’s recording American Prospectives: Works for Violin by Matthew Tommasini.

Originally from Michigan, Walvoord was the Concertmaster of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra in Muskegon, MI and held the position of Artist-in-Residence at Hope College in Holland, MI.  As an educator, Walvoord was the sole recipient of the TexASTA 2010 Marjorie Keller Young Teacher of the Year award.  She maintains a full and active private and university studio of award- and competition-winning students.  Walvoord is an active member of ASTA, TMEA, and TODA.  She has presented numerous times at national ASTA conventions, TMEA conferences, TODA conventions.  During the summer, Walvoord is currently on the faculty of the Texas Chamber Music Institute.  Previously, she has taught at festivals in Hong Kong and across the United States.  She earned her DMA and her MM from the University of Michigan and her BM from Rice University.  Walvoord performs on a violin made by Francois Pique, Paris 1800.

Kathy Fox Powell, soprano, is an attorney by day, but her commitment to and activities in music are substantial.  As a director, Kathy has been the Choirmaster at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Arlington since 1982, founded the Renaissance Consort of Fort Worth (originally the T & P Renaissance Consort) and directed the ensemble during its first ten years.  Kathy has been a chorister and soloist with the Schola Cantorum of Texas, Orchestra of New Spain, and Helios Ensemble, has participated as a singer in numerous musical productions in the area over the years, and she currently sings regularly with, and is Chorusmaster for, the Dallas Bach Society.  Kathy and organist-harpsichordist-musicologist husband Linton have led 4 choir tours to Spain.  In connection with her contributions in the area of Church Music, Kathy was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Nashotah House Theological Seminary.

Dr. Linton Powell recently retired as Professor of Music at the University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, where he taught organ, harpsichord, music history and music literature for thirty-five years. He continues to teach organ and harpsichord there part-time. He holds degrees from Florida State University (BM), the University of Georgia (MFA) and the University of North Carolina (PhD).  In connection with his contributions in the area of Church Music, Dr. Powell was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Nashotah House Theological Seminary.  Additional study was with Isolde Ahlgrimm (harpsichord) and Montserrat Torrent (organ). He is a specialist in Spanish keyboard music and has published numerous articles related to this subject, including the first book on Spanish piano music. Dr. Powell was a Fulbright Scholar to Argentina and has been the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Award for Outstanding Creativity and Research at UT Arlington. He has given organ concerts in such prestigious venues as Westminster Abbey, London; Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D. C.; the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York City; and the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid. He also tours as pianist with Dr. Martha Walvoord, Associate Professor of Violin at UT Arlington.  They have given several concerts in Spain, as well as one in London, England.  He is organist at St. Mark’s Church, Anglican, Arlington, Texas, where his wife, Kathy Fox Powell, is Choirmaster.  They have led four choir tours to Spain to sing in historic churches.

Dr. Jack Unzicker is the Principal Double Bassist of the newly formed Dallas Chamber Symphony and the Plano Symphony Orchestra.  He has also performed as principal with the AIMS Festival Orchestra (Graz, Austria), Dallas Wind Symphony, and the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra.  He regularly performs with the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas Opera.  Unzicker is also an ardent and sought after chamber musician with recent performances with Amici di Corde San Marco, Caminos Del Inka, Chamber Music Festival Saugatuck, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Gyros String Quintet, Orqesta Divertimento (Costa Rica), and Santa Fe Pro Musica.  His recent concerto performances include three seminal works of Giovanni Bottesini, Concerto No. 2 in B Minor, Passione Amorose – with Brian Perry, double bass, and the Gran Duo Concertante – with Dr. Martha Walvoord, violin.

Dr. Unzicker is the Assistant Professor of Double Bass at the University of Texas at Arlington and Artist Faculty at the North Texas Double Bass Camps.  Previously, he served on the faculties of Texas Tech University, Tarleton State University, Texas Woman’s University, Hong Kong Youth Music Camp, and as a guest artist at the University of Oklahoma, Western Michigan University, Eastern Kentucky University, Valparaiso University, West Texas A&M, Southwestern University, and the Bass and Cello Conservatory of Dallas.  He has performed and lectured at the International Society of Bassists, American String Teachers Association, and Texas Music Educators Association Conventions.  Dr. Unzicker has been featured in articles on playing and teaching the double bass in The Strad and Strings Magazine.

 Dr. Unzicker received his DMA and MM from the University of North Texas and BMus from Western Washington University. 

http://www.fwsymphony.org/concerts/concerts.asp?concert=338

GALA: LANG LANG

He discovered a love for the piano at the age of 2 after watching "The Cat Concerto" – a Tom & Jerry cartoon – and later became one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. Described by critics as a soloist with "jaw-dropping virtuosity" and "exhilarating flair and brilliance," international rock-star pianist Lang Lang joins the FWSO's Gala concert for a thrilling performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.

Works

Glinka
Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila

Rachmaninoff
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14

Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING

February 21, 2015 • 8:00 PM • Eisemann Center

PURCHASE TICKETS

Hector Guzman, Conductor
Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg, creators
Vocal Soloists
Plano Civic Chorus, Ralph Stannard, Director
Children's Chorus of COllin County , Janie oliver, director

The only orchestral presentation officially sanctioned and created by Boublil and Schönberg themselves, with music from:

Twenty years ago, the creative team of Alain Boublil and Claude - Michel Schönberg changed the course of musical theatre with their masterpiece, Les Misérables. And now, their musical collaboration comes together in one exclusive and unforgettable concert evening- “Do You Hear the People Sing.” The performance celebrates the lives and music of two of the world’s most prolific writers of musical theatre with music from Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre, The Pirate Queen, and Wuthering Heights. The performance also includes never-before-heard songs from these musicals and surprises! From I Dreamed a Dream andBring Him Home to American Dream, this concert stirs the soul.

http://planosymphony.org/concerts/14-15/6-doyouhear.asp