Symphony taking requests
By SALLY VALLONGO
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Toledo Symphony is planning a special request concert April 12 in the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. Planned to help kick off the orchestra's 65th season in 2008-2009, this benefit performance will have a program chosen by listeners and subscribers from an extensive and diverse list of possible works.
Categories created and populated by TSO president Bob Bell and artistic administrator Merwin Siu include the following:
Great Symphonies - Beethoven's Third, Fifth, and Seventh; Brahms' Second and Fourth; Dvorak's New World, Schubert's Eighth (Unfinished), and the Shostakovich Five, among others.
Soloist Spotlight - Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Bach's Concerto for Two Violins, and more.
Openings and Overtures - Pachelbel's Canon, Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, Verdi's La Forze del Destino, McDevitt's Millenium Overture, and others.
Orchestral Showpieces - Smetana's Moldau, Elgar's Enigma Variations, Holst's Planets, Handel's Water Music, Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, and more.
Other categories include Sounds of the Silver Screen, Red, White & Blue, and The Best of Broadway.
Each category has a write-in slot for those with a taste for something not offered. The complete list is available - with listening samples - at www.toledosymphony.com.
Whatever the final program becomes, Chelsea Tipton II, resident conductor, will lead the orchestra. Deadline for submissions is April 1 at www.toledosymphony.com.
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Principal conductor Stefan Sanderling and the symphony will perform Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor at 7 p.m. March 27 in Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Blvd. Tickets are $30 in advance at 419-246-8000. They are also available at the door.
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Choral conductor Vance George will visit Bowling Green State University Monday-Thursday as a guest of the College of Musical Arts. A graduate of Goshen College and Indiana University, Vance has built a career working with choirs, including 23 years with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. He has won Grammy and Emmy awards for recordings of choral work, including film scores. Vance will work with the University Choral Society from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 1040 of the Moore Musical Arts Center and will lead BGSU choirs in a program titled Choral Colors for area teachers and students from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Bryan Hall.
Also at BGSU, a Clarinet Conference with special guest Eli Eban of Indiana University will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 29 in the Moore center. Featured players will include Bruce Curlette, Kimberly Cole Luevano, Kris Belisle, Georg Klaas, Jocelyn Langworthy, and Shannon Ford. Information: Kevin Schempf at 419-372-2392 or schempf@bgsu.edu.
BGSU concludes its 2007-08 Festival Series with the Louise F. Rees Memorial Concert featuring Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero at 8 p.m. April 4 in Kobacker Hall of the Moore center. Montero is noted for her improvisational skills weaving classical styles into popular music. Advance tickets range from $18 to $30. On the day of the concert, tickets range from $21 to $36. Information: 419-372-8171.
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Soprano Jenny Meggitt, who sings with the Toledo Opera, was named first place winner in a recent vocal competition sponsored by the National Society of Arts and Letters, Ohio River Valley Chapter, in Marietta, Ohio. Meggitt won a cash prize and a free trip to the national competition this May in Bloomington, Ind.
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The University of Findlay will conclude its Bach's Lunch Series with a concert by the Northernaires, a vocal ensemble from Ohio Northern University led by Dennis L. Kratzer, at noon March 28 in the multipurpose room of the Alumni Memorial Union.
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