The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra continues its 2008-2009 O’ Passionate Voice Season on Nov. 15 at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center with a program that is sure to please. The concert features two of the most popular pieces in the orchestral canon and the return of one of the ASO’s most popular soloists in recent years.
Mozart’s well-known Piano Concerto #21 "Elvira Madigan," with pianist Yuliya Gorenman, and Dvorak’s ever-popular "Serenade for Strings" highlight the program along with Alec Wilder’s "Suite for Horn and Strings," with French hornist Amy Horn. More information may be obtained by visiting www.alexsym.org or calling 703-548-0885.
Last heard at the ASO in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and heralded as a "pianist without fear," Russian-born, American pianist Yuliya Gorenman brings her artistic fire and extraordinary virtuosity to Mozart’s Concerto on Nov. 15. Gorenman first achieved international acclaim in 1995 as a prizewinner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. She has performed and recorded with the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra, the Hugo Wolf String Quartet, the St. Louis Philharmonic, the Liege Philharmonic, the National Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders. She is also a Professor of Piano and Musician in Residence at American University in Washington, D.C.
Joining Gorenman as a featured soloist is the ASO’s own Principal Horn, Amy Horn. She will be spotlighted in the Wilder, a piece that ASO Concert Lecturer Colleen Fay calls "vintage Wilder" as it "combines elements of Jazz and popular song, but just enough of each to give the piece a distinctive musical edge." In addition to her position with the ASO, Horn is also a Master Sergeant in "The President’s Own" United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. Rounding out the program is Antonin Dvorak’s Serenade, which was composed in a mere 12 days.
The ASO will conclude its 2008 programming with its Annual Children’s Holiday Concert on Dec. 14 at the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria. Traditional holiday carols and Duke Ellington’s innovative jazz-band arrangement of "The Nutcracker" will be performed. 2009 ushers in more exciting collaborations beginning with February’s Valentine’s Day Weekend program of love duets from Puccini operas and a March program with Heritage Signature Chorale, The Metropolitan Chorus, and world-renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
See you on Nov. 15!
<b>Kim Allen Kluge</b>
Conductor of Alexandria Symphony Orchestra