The exploration of diverse world music is the overarching theme of Global Discoveries, the 2013-14 season of orchestral and chorus concerts of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra Association. Global Discoveries marks the 66th season of the organization and includes premiere performances for the Symphony, along with standard works that audiences embrace. Harp will be a featured instrument throughout the season in memory of Quincy harpist and QSO charter member Sarama Schnack.
Under the direction of Dr. Bruce Briney, the season opens on Oct. 13 with TRUE GRIT, the orchestra’s collaboration with the Quincy Public Library’s 2013 Big Read program. As the final event of The Big Read, audiences will thrill to a sound as big as the west with the QSO’s adaptation of this classic American novel. Aaron Copland’s popular “Rodeo” and “Billy the Kid” suites paint a musical picture of the American landscape. Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” and Joan Tower’s “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman” celebrate the strength of the human spirit captured by the novel.
The hugely successful BEYOND THE SCORE® multi-media production will return for our Saturday, Nov. 16 performance. This Chicago Symphony work is based on the thrilling “Sheherazade.” Inspired by the daring adventures of Sinbad and the raucous Baghdad bazaars found in “The Arabian Nights,” composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov created a dazzling and wondrous musical fantasy. The music weaves imaginative tales worthy of the master storyteller, Sheherazade. Actors and images join the orchestra to tell the story of how the music came to be. This highly anticipated performance will be a delight for the audience as well as the performers.
The Quincy Symphony Chorus will present CEREMONY OF CAROLS on Saturday, Dec. 7 in Salem Church. Dr. Phyllis Robertson will lead the chorus in a selection of traditional and sacred music. The audience will be invited to participate in a sing-along of major choruses from Handel’s “Messiah.” Harpist Melanie Allen will accompany the chorus’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s beautiful “Ceremony of Carols.” Oboe, flute and hand bells will enhance the vocal production. The evening promises to be an inspiring and bright addition to holiday celebrations.
The audience will enjoy the traditional beauty of NORDIC TREASURES on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9. The concert features performances by the winners of the Young Artists Competition. In its 59th year, the competition is open to area 10th-12th grade musicians. The program begins with the side-by-side performance with the Quincy Area Youth Orchestra, conducted by Trent Hollinger and also features the richly melodic Sibelius “Symphony No. 5” performed by the Quincy Symphony Orchestra.
CABARET, our spring choral pops concert will be held Saturday, March 8. American cabaret music smolders with influences from the prohibition era. A jazz trio and ‘torch songs’ give the concert a bluesy, club vibe. Join the Quincy Symphony Chorus for this fun, hip performance.
FAIRY TALES, LEGENDS & LORE, the 43rd Young Peoples concerts will be performed Friday, March 21 at Baldwin Intermediate School. These concerts give area third thru sixth graders the opportunity to experience live symphonic music in a setting just for them, but the 45 minute performances are enjoyable for grown-ups too! The free 11:30 a.m. concert will include seating for the public.
The season concludes with QSO LEGENDS on Saturday, April 12 in Morrison Theater. The concert begins with a premiere composition to honor QSO Founder George M. Irwin written by composer Thom Ritter George, also a former conductor of the QSO. In celebration of the newly endowed Sarama Schnack Harp Chair, guest harpist Claire Happel, formerly of Quincy, performs Debussy’s “Danses Sacrée et Profane for Harp and Strings.” Continuing in French elegance, Camille Saint Saens’ glorious “La Nuit” showcases the female voices of the Quincy Symphony Chorus and Quincy Area Youth Chorus. Other French works include Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” overture, and Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite” and the famous “Bolero.”
Season tickets offer a great savings over single ticket prices. Season tickets are available now, and include all of the concerts described above, plus the concerts of the Quincy Area Youth Chorus and the Quincy Area Youth Orchestra. The price of a season ticket is $60 for adults, and $50 for seniors. A special promotional offer allows new season ticket holders to get two season tickets for the price of one if the order is received before Oct.11. Single tickets are available throughout the season at the door, or in advance from Sturhahn Jewelers and Quincy Hy-Vee stores. The single ticket price is $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors. Children 18 and under are admitted free to all concerts and are encouraged to attend.
In-depth information, including program notes and soloist biographies, will be posted throughout the season on the QSOA website, www.qsoa.org and on our Facebook page. Call 217-222-2856 for details or a brochure.