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Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra 2010 Battle for the Baton Winner Announced
Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra to Celebrate Happy Anniversary Pops Concert
April 17 at Capitol Civic Centre

 

Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra to Celebrate
Happy Anniversary Pops Concert April 17 at Capitol Civic Center

The Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra will celebrate many accomplishments at the Happy Anniversary Pops Concert, featuring jazz violinist Randy Sabien, at the Capitol Civic Center on Saturday April 17, 2010.  The fourth and final concert of the 2009-2010 subscription series, Milestones, Memories and Music, will mark the 20th Anniversary of Maestro Wayne Wildman as Music Director and Conductor of the Manitowoc Symphony.    Also during the concert, the winners of the 9th annual Battle for the Baton will be announced and will lead the Manitowoc Symphony in a selection.   Five teams of Battle contestants are busy collecting votes now to win the right to conduct the Orchestra.   The April 17th concert will be the first MSO School/Family Night at the Symphony.  Area business and individuals are sponsoring the attendance of families of 4th grade students from local schools at the concert.

The April 17th concert will also mark the start of the sales campaign for the 2010 – 2011 Subscription Concert Season.   The concert program for next season will be revealed, with some exciting new events.  Concert-goers will receive the new, colorful season ticket brochure and have an opportunity to take advantage of early subscription discounts.

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.  And the concert will be followed by a reception in the Kadow Room, where concert-goers can meet Maestro Wildman, Mr. Sabien and the Battle contestants.

Tickets for the Happy Anniversary Pops Concert can be purchased at the Capitol Box Office at 913 S. 8th Street   Manitowoc WI 54220, by phone at 683-2184, or 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. 

Maestro Wildman’s 20th Anniversary

Wayne Wildman of Sheboygan was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Manitowoc Symphony in 1990.  At his very first concert with the orchestra Mr. Wildman doubled as conductor and piano soloist.   Educated at Lakeland College and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Mr. Wildman has been heard as harpsichord and/or piano soloist with the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Sheboygan Symphony, and the Green Bay Civic Symphony.  He has appeared with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in recitals at Symphony Center and the Art Institute of Chicago, and performed on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Live from the Elvehjem” series. 

During his tenure as music director Maestro Wildman has succeeded in greatly increasing the number of regular local players in the orchestra.  He has developed a great rapport with the orchestra and the audience.   Mr. Wildman also serves as Music Director of First United Lutheran Church in Sheboygan.

Guest Artist Randy Sabien to Offer an Introduction to Jazz for Strings Class for Local Musicians,
Perform with the Manitowoc Symphony during the Happy Anniversary Pops Concert

Prior to Saturday’s concert, Mr. Sabien will present a session on jazz improvisation for string players of all ages—students, teachers, and adults.  On April 17, 2010 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., any local string players can meet Mr. Sabien , and receive some tips on playing jazz.  The clinic will be held on the stage of the Capitol Civic Centre.   This event is free and open to the public.  Anyone interested in participating should enter through the Stage Door on 7th Street, behind the Capitol.  This program is funded in part by the H.C. Kallies Charitable Trust.

Randy wanted to be a great rock and roll drummer when he started to study music as fourth grader in his hometown of Rockford, Illinois.   But he switched to the violin and is now described by NPR’s Jazz Profiles as “The past, present and future of jazz violin.”  His eclectic style, starting with classical violin, was influenced by the Grateful Dead, Papa John Creach, James Taylor and others.  But his most pivotal musical influence was the music of the great jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli.

He studied at the University of Illinois, and in 1977 Randy enrolled at The Berklee College of Music in Boston.  At the age of 21, he was appointed chair of Berklee College’s new jazz string department, a post he held for three years.

After leaving Berklee College, Randy performed with many singers/songwriters.   He also worked on material for an album with his newly formed jazz quintet.  In a Fog, a colorful, melodic, energetic album of blues based jazz, was released to glowing reviews in 1981.  

In 1989 Randy followed his heart to Hayward in northern Wisconsin where he started his own record label, Fiddlehead Music.  Since then he has released another six titles with two more in the works, predominantly jazz but with country swing, roots blues and rock and roll from the sixties. He also plays regularly as a jazz violin, guest soloist with symphonies across the country.

Happy Anniversary POPS Concert Features Movie Themes, Classic Jazz

The April 17, 2010 concert will open with selections from The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The 2009/2010 season marks the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of this classic musical on Broadway.  Other selections include themes from the movies Pirates of the Caribbean, a swashbuckling treat for any buccaneer, adapted from the music for the 2003 blockbuster by Klaus Badelt, and Tara, a short tone-poem based on melodies from Max Steiner’s epic score for Gone With the Wind.

Guest artist Randy Sabien, renowned jazz violinist and composer, backed by Lee Tomboulian on piano, Andy Sachen on bass and Victoria Daniel and John Aaholm on drums, will join the orchestra for four jazz standards: Lady Be Good by Gershwin, Nature Boy, first popularized by Nat Cole, Body and Soul, arranged by jazz great Joe Venuti and Sweet Georgia Brown, well-known as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters.

The first half of the concert will conclude with Semper Fidelis by John Philip Sousa, conducted by the winner of the MSO’s annual Battle for the Baton Contest.

In the second half of the concert will be a medley of tunes by Duke Ellington and a pair of numbers by Leroy Anderson: The Syncopated Clock and Belle of the Ball.  Another classic melody, The Girl From Ipanema, by Antonio Carlos Jobim features the harmonies of cool jazz mixed with the hot rhythms of the bossa nova.  Randy returns to the stage to close the program with a selection of his own compositions, and finally, I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin.

The Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra Introduces Focus on Children and Education
MSO School/Family Night at the Symphony Project

Local business and individual donors have sponsored the attendance of families of 4th grade students from seven area schools at the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra’s April 17th Happy Anniversary Pops Concert at the Capitol Civic Center.   The initiative, to interest children in live performance of classical music, was developed by the MSO Education and Government Committee.    Manitowoc Coffee was the first sponsor, pledging $500.00 to send twenty families of Madison School 4th graders to the concert.

John Hemken, owner of Manitowoc Coffee and MSO Board Member, went on to seek other businesses that would be willing to partner with specific schools and sponsor families under the Symphony’s Family Ticket program which provided balcony seating for two adults and an unlimited number of children between 5 and 18 years of age.  Mr. Hemken , MSO Board President Peggy Pitz, and Dr. Michael Dunlap, Principal of Madison School and MSO Board member  were able to find business sponsors and individual donors to sponsor six additional elementary schools.

Jackson Elementary School – Friends of the Rahr-West
Jefferson Elementary School – Nicolet Bank
St. Francis of Assisi School – Heavy Metal Fabricators (HMF) 
Franklin Elementary School – Anonymous Donor
Monroe Elementary School –
Attention To Detail - Mike Heier
Dr. Dale and Gayle Asche
Dr. Tom and Diane Finnegan
Charlie Ratigan and Jennifer Hogan
 Peggy Pitz
St. Peter the Fisherman - George and Mary Reis

Each family taking part in the event will receive a written preview of the concert and an invitation to the reception following the program.   Additionally, a representative of the Manitowoc Symphony will visit music classes at the school prior to the event to talk to the children about the concert.

Manitowoc Symphony Presents Carnival of the Animals to Preschoolers

For a number of seasons, members of the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Wayne Wildman, have presented Camille Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals for 4th grade students from Manitowoc County Schools.  This year, the performance, complete with Maestro Wildman’s narration of the Ogden Nash verses that illustrate the animals in the carnival, was held at the Lincoln High School Auditorium on March 23.    A new performance, for preschoolers and their parents, was added this year.  On Saturday morning, March 20, about 80 children and parents gathered at the Daniel Fine Arts Room at Silver Lake College to meet the musicians and the animals.  This program was funded in part by the H.C. Kallies Charitable Trust.