Manitowoc Symphony Features International Pianist
February 7, 2010

The Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra will present Romancing the Piano, on February 13, at the Capitol Civic Center, at 7:30 pm.  Maestro Wayne Wildman will lead the MSO in the third concert of its 2009-2010 Concert Season, Memories, Milestones and Music, which offers musical delights including the Chopin Concerto # 2 for Piano and Orchestra, the “The Barber of Seville” Overture by Rossini and Gounod’s Symphony # 1.

For this romantic program the MSO is offering a “Date Night” special, buy one ticket and get a second free.  See the coupon is this newspaper or call the Capitol Box Office at 683-2184 for details. 

Eun-Joo Kwak, international concert pianist, will join the MSO in the Chopin Concerto # 2 for Piano and Orchestra as the second part of the program. Dr. Kwak has performed in Russia, Asia and throughout the United States, appearing at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, American Landmark Festival in New York, Taipei National Recital Hall in Taiwan, and the Seoul Arts Center in Korea.  She has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra of Korea.
Dr. Kwak is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. She is also Director of the Cardinal Stritch University Annual Piano Festival as well as the Stritch Music Studios, a preparatory music program at the university.

Wildman observed that Frederic Chopin wrote almost exclusively for solo piano, but did compose two concerti for piano and orchestra. The Second Piano Concerto in F minor was written in 1829 when Chopin, a child prodigy, was only 19 years old.   Maestro Wildman said, “Chopin’s stylistic maturity as a teenager is remarkable, and the emotional depth of this work certainly must qualify it as one of the signal achievements of the piano repertory.”

Also on the program will be Charles Gounod’s  Symphony # 1.  Gounod is best remembered today as the composer of Faust and Romeo and Juliet, but in his own time he was regarded as France’s greatest author of choral music and as a leading exponent of the symphonic style.  Maestro Wildman observed that Gounod’s First Symphony is in the traditional four movement form, based on models by Mozart, Haydn and the young Beethoven. To this, Gounod has added witty themes and an atmosphere of grace and charm.

The concert will open with the Barber of Seville Overture by Rossini. “This is a piece of music whose main theme is immediately recognizable by almost everyone, regardless of their level of experience with Classical music”, said Wildman. Though this opera was poorly received at its first performance, the overture has become one of the composer’s best-known works.

Jim Miller, local music director, will present a free lecture preview of the concert in the Kadow Room at the Capitol Civic Center, at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets for Romancing the Piano can be purchased at the Capitol Box Office at 913 S. 8th Street   Manitowoc WI 54220, Monday thru Friday 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. or Saturday 10 a.m. - 1 pm., by phone at 683-2184,  or order tickets online at www.cccshows.org.  Ticket prices are $27.00 for Section A, $22.00 for Section B and $5.00 for student tickets.  The popular Family Ticket Package, available for this concert, includes balcony seating for two adults and any number of children between 5 and 18 years of age for $25.00 presale or $30.00 on the night of the concert. 

Symphony concert features pianist - Lakeshore Update February 7, 2010

The Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, under the director of Wayne Wildman, will present "Romancing the Piano" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Capitol Civic Center, 913 S. Eighth St.

Eun-Joo Kwak, international concert pianist, will be featured in Chopin's "Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra." Kwak is associate professor of piano at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. She has performed in Russia, Asia and throughout the United States.

Jim Miller, local music director, will present a free lecture preview of the concert at 6:45 p.m. in the Kadow Room at the Capitol.

Concert tickets are $27 and $22; student tickets are $5. For the Valentine's Day weekend concert, the symphony is offering a "buy one ticket and get a second free" special. The family ticket package, including balcony seating for two adults and any number of children between 5 and 18 years of age, is $25 in advance or $30 on the night of the concert.

 

Symphony Plans Holiday Fundraiser

The Manitowoc Symphony has announced it will host a special holiday fundraiser at the Historic Forst Inn, downtown, Tisch Mills on Saturday, December 19th.  The evening, billed as COOL YULE! features THE JANET PLANET CHRISTMAS SHOW. 

Supporters of the Symphony are urged to purchase tickets for this exciting event.  $25.00 of each ticket will go to the Manitowoc Symphony to support the organization. 

The evening will feature a pre-show hors d’oeuvre buffet, and post-concert meet and greet with Janet.  Complimentary champagne will be served during the post-show gathering.    

Patrons wishing to acquire tickets can call the Capitol Civic Center at 683-2184.  All tickets are $50.00 including the hors d’oeuvre buffet and champagne.  A cash bar is also available.

The Symphony Association has arranged for bus transportation at a reasonable additional cost.  Interested parties should make inquiry at the time of purchasing their tickets. 

Symphony supporters urge patrons to help them fill their holiday stocking by attending the event and enjoying the holiday concert.  Doors open at 6:00 p.m.  The hors d’oeuvre buffet is served at 6:30 p.m. with the show commencing at 7:30 p.m.

Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra Presents "Double Trouble"
Saturday November 21, 2009

The second subscription concert of the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra’s season of Memories, Milestones and Music will be presented at the Capitol Civic Centre on Saturday, November 21 at 7:30 pm. The concert, entitled “Double Trouble”, will feature violinist Yuliya Smead and cellist Laura Kenney Henckel in the Brahms Double Concerto. The program will also include Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture and Haydn’s Symphony # 104.

“The Double Concerto was Brahms’ last major composition for orchestra”, said MSO Music Director Wayne Wildman. “It’s filled with passionate, soaring melodies, tinged with sadness but also with the wild abandon of a gypsy dance. We’re privileged to have two young and exciting soloists to interpret this masterpiece with our local orchestra.”

Violinist Yuliya Smead holds a Doctoral Degree in Performance and Pedagogy from Lviv State University in Ukraine. She performed in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Poland, Hungary and Ukraine and has been a featured soloist with the Lviv Philharmonic and the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra. She currently serves as Concertmaster of the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, and is Assistant Concertmaster of both the Green Bay and Fox Valley Symphonies. Smead also teaches full-time at the Lawrence Academy of Music, where she maintains a studio of 50 students.

Cellist Laura Kenney Henckel has Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in cello performance from the University of Michigan. She has been featured as soloist with the Manitowoc Symphony, the Green Bay Civic Symphony and the Fox Valley Symphony in Appleton, where she presently holds the position of Principal Cellist. In addition to being Principal Cellist of the Manitowoc Symphony, she is also currently Principal Cellist of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra and performs regularly with professional productions at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.   She is also on the faculty of the Lawrence Academy of Music as String Specialist in Cello, and maintains a private piano studio in her home.

The MSO continues its observance of bicentennial of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) that began with Felix’s Birthday Party in April. According to Wildman, “The Hebrides is one of the greatest pieces of tone-painting ever created in music. You can almost see the mist and feel the rough ocean waves that made Mendelssohn so seasick on his visit to Staffa in 1829. The melodies have the simplicity of folksongs and they will haunt your memory long after the concert is over.”

In the same year that Mendelssohn was born, Joseph Haydn, one of classical music’s great success stories, died. “Haydn spent much of his career in a provincial Hungarian town. When he was forced into retirement, he went to Vienna and discovered that he was Europe’s most famous living composer.” Wildman said. “He wrote the last twelve of his 104 symphonies for performances in London, performances that made him wealthy as well as popular. This music has everything: emotion and energy, but also wit and a quality of balanced serenity that you only find in the work of mature composers.”

Tickets for Double Trouble can be purchased at the Capitol Box Office at 913 S. 8th Street   Manitowoc WI 54220, Monday thru Friday 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. or Saturday 10 a.m. - 1 pm., by phone at 683-2184,  or order tickets online at www.cccshows.org.  The popular Family Ticket Package, available for this concert, includes balcony seating for two adults and any number of children between 5 and 18 years of age for $25.00 presale or $30.00 on the night of the concert. 

Bring the Entire Family to the Symphony!
Manitowoc Symphony Offers New Family Ticket - Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra’s first concert of the season will not only mark the start of the orchestra’s 59th season, but also the introduction of the Family Ticket. For only $25.00 in advance and $30.00 the night of the concert, families can come to the symphony and enjoy quality entertainment at an affordable price.

Family Tickets include seating in the balcony for up to two adults and an unlimited number of children under 18. The MSO recommends these concerts for children ages 5 and up. The Family Ticket gives young families a chance to expose their children to a new kind of live music. 

The Family Ticket is available throughout the 2009-10 season. The symphony’s first concert, Splendors of Spain, is Saturday, October 17 at the Capitol Civic Centre and will feature classical guitarist Christopher Cramer.

Tickets for concerts are available through the Capitol Civic Centre Box Office at 683-2184 or in person (phone processing fees apply). Avoid the lines the night of the concert and save money by purchasing your Family Ticket today!

For more information, visit our website at manitowocsymphonyorchestra.org

 

Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra Season Tickets Still Available!

            Season Tickets are still available for the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra 2009 - 2010 Season, Milestones, Memories and Music through the Capitol Civic Centre Box Office.  The tickets for the program of four concerts are $88.00 and $82.00 for adults and $20.00 for students.  There is a new subscriber discount for those buying Manitowoc Symphony tickets for the first time.  The price of a season ticket represents a savings of almost 20% of the cost of purchasing single concert tickets.

Full season tickets will be on sale until the first concert on October 17.  In that concert, Music Director Wayne Wildman, the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, and Manitowoc native, Dr Christopher Cramer as guest soloist, will show us the musical Splendors of Spain.  Stop at the Capitol Box Office at 913 S. 8th Street   Manitowoc WI 54220, Monday thru Friday 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. or Saturday 10 a.m. - 1 pm. to buy your tickets, or call the Box Office at 683-2184 to have a brochure and order form sent to you, or go to www.cccshows.org to order tickets online.