Shoals Symphony at UNA Announces 30th Season
Sep. 13, 2012
FLORENCE, Ala. – In celebration of 30 years, the Shoals Symphony at UNA has announced four concerts for the 2012-13 season. The concerts, which will be performed in UNA’s Norton Auditorium, feature a variety of selections for all music enthusiasts.
The symphony is geared up for a spectacular season, according to Viljar Puu Weimann, music director for the symphony and music instructor for the UNA Department of Music and Theatre.
The season will open Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. with “Music & the Musician Extraordinaire,” featuring excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, as well as Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Op. 43, played by celebrated Russian classical pianist and silver medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yakov Kasman.
A “Celebration Concert” commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Shoals Symphony at UNA will take place Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Florence native Roger Briggs will conduct the world premiere of his Symphony No. 2, “The Shoals.” The Shoals Symphony at UNA commissioned the piece to celebrate the 30th anniversary. In addition, the program will include “Le Corsaire,” Overture, Op. 21, by Berlioz; Leoncavallo’s “Prologo” from “Pagliacci”; and Puccini’s “Si mi chiamano Mimi” from “La Bohème” and “O mio babbino caro” (“Oh My Beloved Father”) from the 1918 comic opera “Gianni Schicchi.”
On March 10 at 2 p.m., the symphony will bring to the UNA stage “A Family Concert.” Featured pieces will include Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” Op. 34; Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture”; and orchestral pieces from Webber’s 1986 musical “The Phantom of the Opera” and Berlin’s “A Symphonic Portrait.” The student winner of the fall UNA Concerto Competition will also perform with the symphony.
The 2012-13 symphony season will close May 4 at 7:30 p.m. with “Choral Extravaganza!” The UNA Combined Chorus, directed by UNA choral director Ian Loeppky, will join the symphony for Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished,” as well as Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” In addition to the 250 musicians on stage will be highly esteemed soloists Terrance Brown, baritone, and Tiffany Bostic-Brown, soprano, both assistant professors of music at UNA; and opera recitalist and University of Montevallo faculty member Roderick George, tenor.
Season tickets, which include one ticket for each of the four performances, are $50 for adults. FlexPass tickets, which include four tickets to be used in any combination, are $50 for adults and $20 for ages 18 and under. Those who make donations at various levels become members of the symphony’s Director’s Circle and receive benefits such as free FlexPass tickets and invitations to special concerts and events.
Tickets for individual concerts are $15 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are available at the door and in advance of each performance at the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, located at 217 E. Tuscaloosa St. in Florence. Call 256-760-6379 for ticket reservations.
For more information, contact UNA’s Department of Music and Theatre at 256-765-5122, or visit www.una.edu/shoals-symphony.