volume 2 issue 5 November 2017 NOTES FROM THE SYMPHONY

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1 volume 2 issue 5 November 2017 NOTES FROM THE SYMPHONY Inside Musician s Perspective Postcards from Scandinavia features Pianist Charlie Albright QCSO Partners with Boys & Girls Club for Cello Lesson Program Holiday Gift Guide 2017

2 WELCOME The QCSO had an aboslutly fantastic November! The month began with two phenomenal performances from Bella Hristova and the QCSO for Masterworks II: Postcards from the Wild West, and we kicked off the Holiday Season with two nearly sold out performances of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone - In Concert. Caitlin Bishop Director of Marketing I hope you will join us this weekend for Masterworks III: Postcards from Scandinavia. Charlie Albright will astound you with his virtuosity and improvisational prowess in the beloved Grieg Piano Concerto. You also will not want to miss Sibelius enthralling Symphony No. 2, which evokes the vastness and majesty of the Finnish landscape, and the Overture to Denmark s national opera, Nielsen s Maskarade. Thank you to everyone who donated this Giving Tuesday. We surpassed our $3,000 matching goal, raising over $8,000. As we near the Holidays and the end of the year, I hope you will consider making a gift to the QCSO. Your contribution will help fulfill our mission to enrich, engage and entertain the Quad City community with superb symphonic music, music education, and cultural leadership. Caitlin Bishop Director of Marketing Photo Credits: Lisa Marie Mazzucco (p. 1, 5 ) Nicolas Propes (p. 3, 11,12), Montana Farrell (p. 4).

3 volume 2 issue 5 CONTENTS November Musician s Perspective Violinist Hannah Barton shares her experience performing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone - In Concert. 06 Postcards from Scandinavia Features Piano Virtuoso Charlie Albright Explore the vastness and majesty of Scandinavia at Masterworks III on December 2 & 3! 09 QCSO Partners with Boys & Girls Club for Cello Lesson Program Boys & Girls Club participants begin biweekly lessons with QCSO cellist Elizabeth Oar. 10 Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Check off everyone on your list with these gift ideas from the QCSO! NOTES 03

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5 Earlier this month, the QCSO performed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone - In Concert to two packed houses at the Adler Theatre. This unique concert format presented the full-length film in its entirety in High- Definition with the QCSO performing everynote of John William s unforgettable score. The difficult music and length clocking-in and just over two and half hours, this event provided some new challenges as well as rewarding experiences. QCSO Violinist Hannah Barton provides a musician s perspective of this amazing concert. MUSICIAN S PERSPECTIVE PERFORMING HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER S STONE By Hannah Barton QCSO Violinist Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone was the most difficult concert I have had to prepare in several years. My colleague, Will, described our part as a violin concerto, and that s not an inaccurate description. Not to say that the violins are the most important instrument - far from it! However, we have an awful lot of notes. John Williams starts us off immediately with fast, nearly unplayable runs, and then continues that throughout the entire piece. Williams loves using orchestral motives or themes to represent people and events, and our fast runs represent magic, so we have to play them a lot. Practicing before the shows I was apprehensive because the music was so difficult, but also thrilled to be playing music from one of my favorite series. Once we got into rehearsal, there was nothing but excitement. Hearing all the scenes live for the first time made my inner child ecstatic, of course. No speaker system in the world can hold a candle to a live brass section playing the Quidditch Fanfares! Our conductor had the score almost memorized and led rehearsals just as seriously as if we had been playing a Tchaikovsky symphony. Playing for a movie is an entirely different experience than playing a regular concert. Instead of a respectfully silent audience, the crowd laughed, cheered, booed, and clapped throughout the show. It was amazing to feel the energy sizzling between the audience and the stage. When we finished the first show, the audience leapt to their feet, as enthusiastic as if we had scored the winning touchdown! I couldn t keep the silly grin off my face long after curtain call was done. I am already listening to The Chamber of Secrets soundtrack, and can t wait to repeat the experience with another Harry Potter film next year! NOTES 05

6 UPCOMING PERFORMANCES POSTCARDS FROM SCANDINAVIA FEATURES CHARLIE ALBRIGHT By Mark McLaughlin PIANO VIRTUOSO Scandinavia is a breathtaking region in northern Europe that includes Denmark, Norway, and Finland, among other countries. On December 2 and 3, Postcards from Scandinavia, the third entry in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) Masterworks concert series, will provide Quad- Cities area music lovers with a symphonic tour of that majestic realm. Masterworks III: Postcards from Scandinavia will be held 8 p.m., December 2, at the Adler Theatre, and 2 p.m., December 3, at Centennial Hall, Augustana College. The program will feature three musical selections, beginning with Danish composer Carl Nielsen s Overture to Maskarade, the comedic national opera of Denmark. Next, the Piano Concerto of Norway s Edvard Grieg will feature piano virtuoso Charlie Albright, who will astound you with his amazing skill and improvisational prowess. The tour concludes with Jean Sibelius enthralling Symphony No. 2, which draws inspiration from the vastness and beauty of the Finnish landscape. Jean Sibelius is one of the great Romantic composers, and we have not performed his music 06 NOTES

7 in quite a while, said Mark Russell Smith, QCSO Music Director and Conductor. He is Finland s greatest composer, and a unique voice in music. Edvard Grieg the same for Norway. These two artists and their music inspired the idea of our Scandinavian Postcard. The surprising thing about Scandinavian music, said Michael Harring, Interim Executive Director of the QCSO, is that such a relatively small area could turn out so much classic talent. QCSO audience members will discover pieces in this concert which will become new favorites, and of course, they ll enjoy the masterful performance of Charlie Albright, an up-and-coming pianist who is sure to gain even greater fame in the years to come. Overture to Maskarade Maskarade is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen, based on a comedy by playwright Ludvig Holberg. Maskarade was first performed in Copenhagen in 1906 and has enjoyed ongoing popularity in Denmark. It has since become that country s national opera. This piece is a rowdy curtain-raiser short and lively and full of color and good humor, said Smith. The plot of Maskarade concerns young lovers at a masquerade, mistaken identities, and a happy ending. The work had started as a play by Holberg, and the opera that was created around it proved to be an even greater success. Raised by poor but musically talented parents, it was clear that composer Carl Nielsen was gifted when he was still very young. He went from playing in a military band to attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music. For the next 16 years, he served as second violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra. He became a teacher at the Royal Academy in 1916 and continued to work there until his death. Today, his concertos, symphonies, and other music are internationally acclaimed, and he is now recognized as Denmark s most prominent composer. Though he is still in his twenties, Albright has already established an illustrious career in music. He began piano lessons with his mother at age 3, and from the start, his talents drew attention. When he was still just four years old, he was featured on a Seattle news program, playing the piano with incredible skill. At that time, I was playing completely by ear, Albright said. A song he learned to play in those early years was Great Balls of Fire. He didn t learn to play sheet music until age 7. Over the years, Albright has participated in many performance tours. I ve performed in every state in America except Louisiana and Mississippi, he said. When it came time to pick a college major, he wavered between music and medicine. He had always been interested in medicine, since his father suffered from a chronic illness. But in the end, it became clear to him that he needed to pursue music. Medicine was an interest, but music was my passion, he said. Albright has collaborated five times with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who also has performed with the QCSO. Like Albright, Yo-Yo Ma was a child prodigy. Albright has released two CDs of his performances so far, and in his spare time, enjoys listening to film soundtracks. Albright is very grateful for his success. Much of success is luck and God s blessing, he said. There are many talented people who never get a chance. Piano Concerto Acclaimed piano virtuoso Charlie Albright will be playing Edvard Grieg s Piano Concerto in A Minor. Charlie Albright is quite an awesome young performer! Smith said. WATCH CHARLIE S QUAD CITIES IMPROV

8 Charlie is wonderful at improvisation and will be doing some as part of his performance with the symphony, Harring said. Albright s improvisation will be part of Piano Concerto s cadenza, a virtuoso solo passage. Though this work was the only concerto Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg completed, it has become one of the most popular of all piano concerti. I had the opportunity to perform this Piano Concerto at Grieg Hall, Albright said. It s a truly gorgeous piece. Grieg is considered a leading Romantic era composer, noted for the use of Norwegian folk music in his works. He suffered from poor health for most of his life, but still managed to maintain an amazing musical career and receive two honorary doctorates one from Cambridge and the other from Oxford. The Piano Concerto was composed in 1868 when Grieg was only 24 years old. The work received its orchestral premiere the next year in Copenhagen. Grieg was intended to be the soloist, since he was a talented pianist, but could not attend the premiere due to a commitment with another orchestra. SUPPORT THE QCSO Tickets cover only about a third of our expenses to deliver superb symphonic performances. It s due to those who support us through the Annual Fund that we have been able to survive and thrive in the Quad Cities for over a century. We count on your support for our success. Donate online at QCSO.org by mail or call Steve Mohr at NOTES Symphony No. 2 Born in 1865, Jean Sibelius is widely recognized as Finland s greatest composer. Through his music, he helped his country to develop a strong national identity as it sought to free itself from Russian control. He became a great proponent of Finnish nationalism, said Harring. Sibelius composed a set of seven symphonies, and the most popular of them all was No. 2. It was first performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society in 1902, with Sibelius conducting. Sibelius is also the composer of Finlandia, a piece written in 1899 and 1900 as part of a protest against Russian control. The piece s rousing music evokes the struggle of the people of Finland during that time. A serene section of the piece is known as the Finlandia Hymn, and Sibelius later revised it into a stand-alone piece. Words were added to the hymn by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi in 1941, and the Finlandia Hymn is now one of the national songs of Finland. Sibelius was so respected in Finland that the Finnish 100 mark note featured his image until 2002, when Finland began to use the euro as currency. Scandinavia has proven to be a veritable wellspring of musical talent, Harring said. With so many fine Scandinavian pieces and a performance by the incomparable Charlie Albright, this concert will provide an excellent opportunity for our audience to expand its musical horizons. Quad City Symphony Orchestra tickets are available at the QCSO box office at 327 Brady St., Davenport. You can also call the QCSO at (563) or visit

9 EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT QCSO PARTNERS WITH BOYS & GIRLS CLUB FOR CELLO LESSON PROGRAM By Marc Zyla The Quad City Symphony Orchestra s mission to inspire, and engage the Quad City community through superb symphonic music, music education, and cultural leadership is at the core of all activities that the organization undertakes. The QCSO believes very strongly in its responsibility to promote the enjoyment of our art form and create access to music making for all Quad Citizens. In the fall of 2016, the QCSO began working with the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley (BGCMV) to create a music instruction program for their members. What has resulted from this partnership is a program where 2nd and 3rd grade BGCMV members in Davenport and Moline will have the opportunity to take twice a week group cello lessons with QCSO Cellist, Elisabeth Oar. Through the generosity of an anonymous donor to the Boys and Girls Club, students will be provided with a new cello, all the necessary accessories for music study, as well as instruction and supervised practice time. Elisabeth began visiting the clubs in August to perform and begin building interest in the program. She visited once again to size fit all 21 interested students for their instruments. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley Club members are thrilled to begin cello lessons in November and we are excited to watch the members grow musically as we partner with the Quad City Symphony said BGCMV Executive Director, Jennifer Garlach. Instruction will begin the last week of November, and will extend through the end of May. Elisabeth s energy for this program runs deeper than just her commitment to music education. Having the opportunity to pass along things that I learned when I was their age is so exciting. I started in group lessons in 3rd grade and had a wonderful experience because my teacher created a very fun and safe place for children to discover their love of music. My goal is to instill those values into this program. NOTES 09

10 Holiday GIFT GUIDE 2017 Do you need a little help with your holiday shopping? Check off everyone on your list with these gift ideas from the QCSO! for the music lover A TRIO TO LAST THE SEASON Share the wondrous sound of the last three concerts of the season! Concerts feature QCSO Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz, QCSO Principal Trumpet Matthew Onstad, and Van Cliburn Medalist Daniel Hsu. Trios start as low as $35 for adults & $18 for children/ students. for a couple for the chamber music lover Pair one of our Masterworks Concerts with a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant and give a deserving couple the perfect date night! This Chamber Music series promises beautiful and passionate music to share with your friends. Choose from four intimate concerts. Tickets start at $17 for adults & $10 for children/ students. Tickets are $27 for adults & $12 for children/students. MASTERWORKS CONCERT SIGNATURE SERIES CONCERT for the whole family QCSO: A SPACE ODYSSEY The perfect gift for anyone! This visually inspiring family concert features music from well-known films accompanied by high-definition NASA videos. Tickets start at $10 for adults & $5 for children/ students. for the hard to buy for GIFT CERTIFICATES It is easy to give the gift of music, and gift certificates allow your loved ones to choose their own concert and seat! Gift certificates are available in any increment of $5. Contact our Box Office for more information. 10 NOTES

11 UPCOMING QCSO CONCERTS & EVENTS Masterworks III: Postcards from Scandinavia December 2, :00 p.m. Adler Theatre, Davenport, IA December 3, :00 p.m. Signature Series III: Contrasts January 28, :00 p.m. Masterworks IV: Postcards from Venice February 3, :00 p.m. Adler Theatre, Davenport, IA February 4, :00 p.m. QCSYEs Winter Festival Concert February 25, :00 p.m. Masterworks V: Postcards from Germany & Austria March 3, :00 p.m. Adler Theatre, Davenport, IA March 4, :00 p.m. Signature Series IV: Naha Greenholtz in Concert January 28, :00 p.m. Masterworks V: Postcards from Russia April 7, :00 p.m. Adler Theatre, Davenport, IA April 8, :00 p.m. Quad City Symphony Orchestra tickets are available at the QCSO box office at 327 Brady St., Davenport. You can also call the QCSO at (563) or visit NOTES 11

12 327 Brady Street Davenport, IA