Maestro, Martin Majkut
The Rogue Valley Symphony’s 2011-12 Season will feature 2 pianists, a double bassist, an oboist, and a young local cellist. Music Director, Martin Majkut, calls this season “more challenging, more adventurous & more vibrant.” Half of the pieces on the programs have never been performed by the RVS! The RVS will be offering a broader range of ticket prices this season to accommodate more people. New musicians will also be joining the orchestra. There will also be a rejuvenation of the Holiday concert series in local churches.
Jeffrey Biegel
On September 23, 24, and 25, 2011, pianist Jeffrey Biegel will return to the Rogue Valley to perform 2 concertos with the RVS. One is a standard item in a pianist’s repertoire: Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The other is an explosive newer concerto by Keith Emerson (of the progressive rock group Emerson, Lake, & Palmer.) The RVS will round that concert out with Barber’s contemplative Essay No. 1 and Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 “Farewell.” With the exception of the Haydn, this will be the first time any of these works have been performed by the RVS.
November 4, 5, and 6, 2011 will feature an outstanding local young talent, cellist Chas Barnard. Chas performed with the YSSO as a soloist in the 2010-11 season. He will join the RVS for Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1. Chas is part of the Schoenard Trio that performed at the prestigious Fischoff chamber music competition in May 2011. The RVS hopes to expand its youth programs in the future to include a concerto competition for young talent in the Northwest. Also on this program are two pieces depicting the German Rhineland: Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish” and Wagner’s “Dawn and Sigfried’s Rhine Journey” from the opera Gotterdammerung.
December will see the return of a holiday concert, “Sounds of the Season”. Concerts will be in Ashland on Friday, December 2, Grants Pass on Saturday, December 3, and in Medford on Friday, December 10 and Saturday, December 11. The concerts will feature viola soloist, Kimberly Fitch, on Carl Stamitz’s Viola Concerto as well as Martin Majkut conducting from the harpsichord. These concerts will include a smaller chamber orchestra and brass carols of the season in intimate local church settings.
The January 27, 28, and 29, 2012 concerts will bring oboist, Neil Tatman, Professor of Oboe at the University of Arizona to the stage with the RVS. Mr. Tatman will perform two works: Françaix’s L’horloge de Flore (“Flower Clock”) and Debussy’s arrangement of two of Satie’s Gymnopedies. Françaix’s musical language is vivid and lush. The orchestra will present two pieces from the British Isles. One is Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from the opera “Peter Grimes.” Both of these capture the essence of local British Isles flavors, but through dissimilar means.
The fourth concert on March 2, 3, and 4, 2012 of the RVS season includes Portland native, Andrew Brownell, as the piano soloist. Mr. Brownell is currently living in London and is a fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Mr. Brownell will be performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The orchestra will also be presenting a French classic: Debussy’s Prélude á “L’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn). Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 will round out the program, performed for the first time by the Rogue Valley Symphony.
RVS’ Season Finale concert will include a world-renown double bass virtuoso, Gary Karr on April 20, 21, and 22, 2012. Mr. Karr will be performing two pieces: Koussevitzky’s Double Bass Concerto and Paganini’s Moses Fantasy. Serge Koussevitzky was one of the world’s great bass virtuosos and well as a conductor and composer. (In fact, Mr. Karr performs on a lustrous 1611 Amati double bass which was given to him by the widow of Serge Koussevitzky.) Paganini’s Moses Fantasy, whose material comes from the opera of the same name, reinforces an Italian presence on the program along with Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra overture. Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 finishes the RVS season. This piece is one of the most requested pieces from both orchestral musicians and audience members.
This season ticket prices will range from $10 to $44 and student tickets will continue to be offered at $5. Ashland ticket prices are $44, $38, and $33; Medford prices are $38, $33, $28, and $10; and Grants Pass prices are $34, $38, $20, and $10. The Medford $10 economy tickets are available from the Craterian only beginning 10 days before the concert and the Grants Pass $10 economy tickets are available only from the Rogue Valley Symphony Box Office beginning 2 weeks before the concert.
In addition, the RVS is teaming up with 11 other local arts organizations to offer up to two $5 tickets to anyone presenting an Oregon Trail card from the SNAP program. These tickets can be bought at the door to our Grants Pass performances. There is more information about this program at www.performingartsaccess.org.
Our string section will be adding two new principals this year: Michal Palzewicz on Cello and Sara Wilbur on Second Violin. The horn section will add Susan Anderson of Eugene on Fourth Horn. Michal Palzewicz, a native of Poland, began his musical training at the age of seven. When he was 17, together with his friends, he founded the Elsner String Quartet. They became the quartet-in-residence at the Britten-Pears School, Suffolk, England, and, after winning the European Young Concert Artists Competition in Leipzig, the Elsner quartet was invited on full scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music. Currently, Michal resides in Ashland and is playing in his second season with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (She Loves Me, 2010, Pirates of Penzance, 2011). In addition to working with his own Palzewicz Ensemble Michal is a member of Trine and offers lessons in cello and chamber music. Sara Wilbur was born in Fairbanks, Alaska and began studying violin under the Suzuki method at the age of seven. While Sara holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, she studied music extensively under the direction of Dr. Maria Sampen, held concertmaster of the university’s string and symphonic orchestras, and was a 2009-2010 Edward Seferian Endowed Musician. After a brief, albeit lovely, time in Mount Shasta, Sara moved to Ashland in July of 2011 to begin the next musical chapter of her life.
The concert dates are as follows: Concert I: September 23 (Ashland), 24 (Medford), and 25, 2011 (Grants Pass); Concert II: November 4 (Ashland), 5 (Medford), and 6, 2011 (Grants Pass); Concert III: January 27 (Ashland), 28 (Medford), and 29, 2012 (Grants Pass); Concert IV: March 2 (Ashland), 3 (Medford), and 4, 2012 (Grants Pass); and Concert V: April 20 (Ashland), 21 (Medford), and 22, 2012 (Grants Pass). Concerts on Friday and Saturday nights begin at 7:30pm and Sunday concerts are at 3pm. Maestro Martin Majkut will continue his preconcert talks one hour before each performance.
The Holiday concerts will be on Dec. 2 (Grants Pass), Dec. 3 (Ashland), and Dec. 9 and 10 (Medford.). Please call the RVS Box Office for ticket information at (541) 552-6398 or visit our website at rvsymphony.org. New Series Subscribers get 50% off ticket prices.