|
||
| ABOUT FCS | BUY TICKETS | SEASON CALENDAR |
|
The FCSA announces the Interim Executive Director The Fort Collins Symphony Association Board of Directors announces it has appointed Carol Kauffman as interim executive director. Kauffman started in the new role on October 10. The Board has initiated a search for a permanent executive director. Kauffman, a Fort Collins resident for 14 years, was previously on staff with the Symphony. She is a graduate of Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, and has worked as a special event coordinator and fundraiser for a Denver-area international nonprofit. The Resignation of the FCS Executive Director The Fort Collins Symphony announces the resignation of its executive director, Marta Farrell, on October 4, due to health issues. Music Director Wes Kenney said "Farrell's sudden departure will be a great loss for not just the Fort Collins Symphony, but the nonprofit arts sector of Northern Colorado. She put her indelible stamp on our organization through her perseverance, keen sense of business and genuine concern for the growth of the Fort Collins Symphony. What will be missed most of all is her infectious laugh and good-natured manner in handling all of our artists and her wonderful 'Texas' hospitality." The Fort Collins Symphony Association said "Everyone associated with the Symphony thanks Marta for her leadership the past two years and the increase in Symphony offerings during her tenure. All are behind her, and wish her the best of luck as she battles this illness." Eye On The Prize! The Fort Collins Symphony announces the finals of its 52nd annual Young Artists Competition, which pairs two emerging musical talents--cellist Paul Dwyer and clarinetist Jonathan Jones --on the stage with the Fort Collins Symphony, Sunday, September 9 at 2:00 p.m. in Griffin Hall, at the University Center for the Arts. These two were selected as finalists after the semi-final competition was held here in June. It is relatively unique to Fort Collins that finalists perform with the Symphony--and not just a piano--as is often the case. A panel of judges will select first and second place. The winner will receive the Adeline and Harry Rosenberg Prize of $6,000 and the runner up will receive $4,000. Jones will perform Concerto for Clarinet, opus 57 by Carl Nielsen and Dwyer will play Concerto for Cello no. 1, opus 107 by Dmitri Shostakovich. The Shostakovich Cello Concerto was written for Rostropovich who just recently passed away. Maestro Wes Kenney will dedicate the piece and the performance to him. For its Eye On The Prize concert, the Symphony is also playing the Sibelius Valse Triste and the Bartok Rumanian Dances. Jonathan Jones, clarinetist, won the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and he won first prize in the winds division at the Young Texas Artists Music Competition. Currently, Jonathan plays with The Las Colinas, Garland and Arlington Symphony Orchestras as well as the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. This year he won the General Concerto Competition at Southern Methodist University, where he is a senior. Paul Dwyer, began playing the cello at age six in Vienna, Austria, before moving to Munich, Germany. In Germany, he was involved in numerous ensembles, ranging from the National Youth Orchestra of Germany to a rock cello quartet. He graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory with a Bachelor of Music in May 2007. Paul has been a prize-winner in several competitions. The Adeline and Harry Rosenberg prize is named for long-time Fort Collins residents and Symphony supporters, Dr. Harry and the late Adeline Rosenberg. After Adeline’s death, her family established the Adeline Rosenberg Memorial Prize for the senior level of the Young Artist Competition in remembrance of her vital interest in young performers. In 2006, the Symphony Association changed the name of the prize to the Adeline and Harry Rosenberg Prize to acknowledge his many contributions to music. Support for the 52nd Young Artists Competition is provided by:
The Fort Collins Symphony announces 'A Season of Desire'
2007-08 calendar debuts Sept. 29 with ‘Fateful Obsession’The Fort Collins Symphony will open its Masterworks 2007-2008 season, A Season of Desire, in dramatic fashion on Sept. 29-30 when Polish-born classical guitarist Marcin Dylla performs the world premiere of Joaquin Rodrigo’s "Tocatta." Dylla is the featured artist for Fateful Obsession, the first of the FCS’s 58th annual MasterWorks series. Dylla is a winner of the 2006 Buffalo International Guitar Competition as well as dozens of other international guitar competitions. This season-opening event will be highlighted performances of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, the Tangazzao by Piazolla, and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, which Dylla was asked to premiere by the composer’s daughter. "Tchaikovsky's obsession with fate resulted in one of the most powerful symphonies ever written," said FCS Music Director Wes Kenney. "To open the program we turn to music’s Latin roots with a nod to the Tango by immensely popular composer Piazolla and the most familiar guitar concerto ever written, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez." Dates and times: Home is Where the Heart is Next in the season series, violinist and FCS concertmaster Stacy Lesartre will be featured in Home Is Where the Heart Is. Lesartre, accompanied by the Symphony, will perform Dvorak’s Violin Concerto. The concert will also feature Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, and Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta. “In the 19th century nationalism was at its peak and it can be heard in every work presented on this concert," Maestro Kenney remarked. "Kodaly and Dvorak present their Bohemian-influenced music while Sibelius creates aural images that conjure up the rugged landscapes of Finland. Stacy Lesartre is our own concertmaster and is a former member of the Houston Symphony." Date and time: Flames of Desire Popular Italian pianist Maurizo Moretti brings his passionate presentation to the Fort Collins stage, joining the Symphony in Flames of Desire, a performance to be highlighted by Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, and Schwantner’s New Morning for the World. "Maurizio Moretti has several recordings to his credit, and he comes to us directly from Italy," Kenney remarks. "Brahms struggled with his symphonic compositions and his first piano concerto was to be originally a symphony, thus the gargantuan size of the concerto. The Schwantner New Morning for the World is a Fort Collins premiere and is one of the most popular from the late twentieth century. The text is drawn from the speeches of Martin Luther King." Date and time: What’s Love Got To Do With It? At a Sunday-only performance, the Symphony’s own principal keyboardist Bobbie Mielke helps ask the question What’s Love Got To Do With It? The concert will feature works from two of the world’s best known composers, Mozart and Schubert. "The elegance and charm of Mozart and Schubert are at their best in this post-Valentines Day concert," Kenney said, identifying two of the featured composers. "Hindemith of course will 'get Cupid’s point across' with his Cupid and Psyche Overture. Schubert's Fifth Symphony is one of the most beloved works from early nineteenth-century Vienna. Mozart’s K488 Piano Concerto is one of his most often played, whereas the Hindemith overture is almost never played. I suspect that would make it a Fort Collins premiere." Date and time: Riot of Spring For the first time in Fort Collins, Stravinsky’s evocative Rite of Spring highlights the Riot of Spring concert. The Symphony will also perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, known as the "Pastorale." "Stravinsky’s musical textures incensed a riot at the first performance of this landmark work," Maestro Kenney said, referring to the title of the performance. "Beethoven created a lovely and spirited homage to spring that was a departure from his boorish personality. It’s a dichotomy we call spring and we in Colorado know it well." Dates and times: A Passion for Melody Violinist Michael Ludwig guest stars in A Passion for Melody; the performance includes what will become an annual offering of familiar pieces popular outside the concert hall, I Know That Tune! The program features pieces that have become popular in mediums outside the concert hall. "Looney Tunes, Walt Disney’s Fantasia, Children’s Ballet: It’s music that has transcended the concert hall and now lives forever as something else," Kenney said, introducing just a few of the selections. You may not know them by title, but you’ll know them by melody. The Bach/Stokowski Toccata and Fugue in D minor is the opening work of the original Fantasia. Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 has been used in several Looney Tunes cartoons. Berlioz' Hungarian March is one of the most famous patriotic movements ever written." Date and time: A Center of Attention The Larimer Chorale joins the Symphony in the season finale, A Center of Attention, for a presentation of Sergey Prokofiev's cantata from the film Alexander Nevsky. The performance will feature mezzo-soprano Shannon Magee. The evening will also feature Aaron Copland's beloved Billy the Kid, and John Adams' The Chairman Dances. "Chairman Dances is lifted directly from Adams’ opera Nixon in China," Kenney explained. "Billy the Kid was a ballet score first, and this is a suite drawn from it. The Gun Battle is particularly vivid. Prokofiev originally wrote the music for Alexander Nevsky to accompany the Einstein film, one of the first "talkies." Date and time: Ticket information WES KENNEY WINS FIRST VARNA INTERNATIONAL CONDUCTORS COMPETITION Kenney said "I'm thrilled to be selected as the winner of this first competition. The entire experience was extremely positive. With fondness, I tip my hat to my colleagues from two continents for their outstanding performances. I look forward to returning to Bulgaria for concerts in the near future." As part of the winning prize, Kenney will return to Bulgaria during the next season to conduct concerts in Vidin, a picturesque city situated along the Danube River. The Vidin State Philharmonic Orchestra, founded as a private institution in 1910, became State Orchestra on 28 April, 1949. The competition featured works by renowned composers, including Bartok, Brahms, Beethoven, Shostakovich and Johann Strauss. Maestro Dion Tchobanov, Chief Conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic, Sofia State Opera, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, saluted Kenney’s performance. “The orchestra, concertmaster, faculty, and myself have concluded unanimously that the winner is Maestro Wes Kenney from Colorado, USA,” Tchobanov said. Kenney was named Music Director for the Fort Collins Symphony in 2003. He has also served as an Associate Professor of Music at Colorado State University since 2003. Kenney holds a Master of Music San Francisco State University where he was tops in his graduating class and won the prestigious Carmen Dragon Prize the best conductor in the California State University system. He also received a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from University of Southern California where he majored in Music History. Further conducting studies were taken at Die Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, the Conductors Institute, and at American Symphony Orchestra League and Conductors Guild Workshops. Marta Farrell, Executive Director of the Fort Collins Symphony said "Wes winning this prestigious, international award once again demonstrates the global vision of the Fort Collins Symphony; its reach extends beyond our community. For the upcoming season, Kenney scheduled two world-class international artists to appear. We invite everyone to come see and hear for themselves the quality that makes Maestro Kenney an international award winner and the Fort Collins Symphony a rising star." For more information visit www.varnaworkshop.com |