Meet The Musicians

APO opens season with focus on all the players

The Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra recently announced its 2014-15 season, which kicks off in November.

The first of four concerts will be Orchestral Spectacular on Nov. 1 at Arend Arts Center in Bentonville. This show is "a collection of orchestral show pieces that will highlight nearly all of the amazing players of the APO," conductor and music director Steven Byess says. The program will feature the overture from "William Tell" by Rossini, the suite from "The Sleeping Beauty" by Tchaikovsky and "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky/Ravel. The concert also will "give the audience a chance to hear and to meet, musically speaking, all the players of the orchestra," Byess says.

FYI

Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra

2014-15 Season Schedule

Orchestral Spectacular — 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1

Christmas with the APO — 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20

Musical Majesty — 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14

Northern Lights — 7:30 p.m. April 11

WHERE — The first three concerts will be at Arend Arts Center in Bentonville, and the final concert will be at John Brown University in Siloam Springs

COST — $85 for season tickets

INFO — 841-4644 or arkansasphilharmoni…

— Source: Steven Byess

The next concert will be Christmas With the APO on Dec. 20. The orchestra will collaborate with the Ozark Bronze Handbell Ensemble and McNair Middle School Glee Club during this event, Byess says. Concertmaster Er-Gene Kahng, who is also a professor of violin at the University of Arkansas, will be featured in Vivaldi's "Winter" from "The Four Seasons," he adds. Other pieces in the program include "Carol of the Bells" by Leontovich and "Winter Bonfire" by Prokofiev.

"It's a nice way to celebrate the season musically but also a nice collaborative effort for our orchestra," he says.

The Feb. 14 concert, titled Musical Majesty, will feature "musical phenomenon" Alexander Markov, winner of the Paganini International Violin Competition, Byess says.

"Alexander is truly one of the greatest violinists ever," he says.

Markov played with the orchestra several years ago, Byess adds, and this season, he will perform Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. The orchestra will perform Albinoni's Adagio and Suite from "Pulcinella" by Stravinsky. Byess says there is "something majestic about every one of these pieces."

The final show, Northern Lights, will be April 11 at John Brown University in Siloam Springs. It will feature Italian pianist and international competition winner Roberto Plano, who was scheduled to perform with the orchestra last season but had to cancel due to weather, Byess says. Plano requested to play the Grieg Piano Concerto. Another piece by Grieg in the program is Suite No. 1 from "Peer Gynt." Byess says the piece has beautiful music, and it is not performed very often.

The concert also will include Halvorsen's "Entry of the Boyars March" and a piece performed by the winner of the annual Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra-University of Arkansas Concerto Competition set for November, Byess notes.

NAN What's Up on 08/15/2014

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