Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra Opens Season with ‘Fire, Sun and Water’
September 5, 2014
Saturday, September 13, 2014 ~
SPARTANBURG, SC – Celebrating its 10th Anniversary with Maestra Sarah Ioannides, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra will present its opening night concert on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. in Twichell Auditorium at Converse College.
There will be a pre-concert chat 6:15-6:45 p.m. with Converse College faculty member Chris Vaneman in the Lawson Academy Recital Hall.
Unfortunately, due to an issue with a travel visa, the originally scheduled guest artist Andreas Boyde will be unable to travel from London to the US to perform. “We welcome to the stage an outstanding new soloist, Charlie Albright, who will perform Tchaikovsky’s much loved Piano Concerto No. 1,” SPO’s Interim Executive Director, Kathryn Boucher said.
The orchestra will also perform Carl Nielson’s Helios Overture, and the ‘Moldau’ from Ma Vlast, by Bedřich Smetana. “We are going to present a program filled with the vibrancy of nature, the powerful imagery of the God of the Sun in Nielsen’s Helios Overture combined with the beautiful flowing river of Smetana’s My Country,” Maestra Ioannides said.
“The Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra is excited to present our opening night concert with such a commanding pianist as Charlie Albright,” Boucher said. “His charisma and talent will reflect the high quality of guest artists that Music Director Sarah Ioannides has lined up for her 10th Anniversary Season in Spartanburg. We are looking forward to a powerful and celebratory season with Sarah’s remarkable guidance!”
Hailed as “among the most gifted musicians of his generation” by theWashington Post, Albright has been praised for his “jaw-dropping technique and virtuosity meshed with a distinctive musicality,” said The New York Times. Recipient of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2010 Gilmore Young Artist Award, winner in the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and recipient of the 2013 Arthur W. Foote Award, his 2013-2014 season included 77 concerts nationwide. He appeared as soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, in six-week and four-week Midwest concert tours, in a recital debut at the Vancouver Recital Society, and in recitals in Boston, where he completed his three-recital series of all-Schubert repertoire at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Albright has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, the Phoenix Symphony, the Lansing Symphony, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Hilton Head Symphony, the Great Falls Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony, where he was re-engaged for their summer and the symphony concerts. He has also performed recitals at the Morgan Library & Museum, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, the Gilmore Rising Stars Series and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and at the Harvard Musical Society. In 2015, he will tour as soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Keith Lockhart.
Albright has collaborated five times with revered cellist Yo-Yo Ma: at a 10-year anniversary remembrance of 9/11 performing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time; at a Harvard University ceremony at which Senator Ted Kennedy received an honorary degree; in an event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, honoring Nobel Laureate, Toni Morrison; at the Aspen Institute’s “Citizen Artistry” conference at the Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York; and with the Silk Road Project.
Winner of the 2011 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts from Harvard University, Albright was also named Artist in Residence for Harvard University’s Leverett House, a position once filled by another Harvard-educated musician, cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Albright’s numerous awards include first prize in both solo and ensemble categories at the 2006 New York National Piano Competition; First Prize and all other awards offered at the 2006 Eastman International Piano Competition; Third Prize at the 2007 Hilton Head International Piano Competition; Semi-Finalist Award and Best Performance of a Work by Liszt in Stage I at the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition; and the Vendome Virtuoso Prize and the Elizabeth Leonskaya Special Award at the 2009 Vendome Prize Piano Competition. Albright was selected by pianist Marc-André Hamelin to receive the German 2014 Ruhr Klavier Festival Young Artist Scholarship Award, including a debut concert in the 2014 Ruhr Festival.
Danish composer Carl Nielsen, who wrote in all genres, is best known for his symphonies and short orchestral works, which include his belovedHelios Overture. Nielson and his wife Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, a well-known sculptor, traveled to Athens Greece in 1902 where they were both productive in their fields of work. Nielsen’s ability to watch the sun ascending over the sea and later disappearing over the horizon at evening inspired him to compose his most famous overture, Helios. The title of the overture refers to the Greek sun god Helios, who roamed east to west through the sky each day.
Czech composer, Bedrich Smetana, considered the father of Czech music, captured his country’s musical style at a time when his land was seeking independent statehood. In his day the land was Bohemia, later Czechoslovakia, and today, the Czech Republic. Along with his operatic works, he is also remembered for a set of six symphonic poems (Ma Vlast-My country/Homeland) that portray his country’s history, legends, landscapes and folklore. The second of this set of six is a tone poem based on the river Vltava, also known as Die Moldau (German name).
“This is sure to be one of the most exciting concerts ever presented by the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra,” Ioannides said. “This program draws on the powerful force of the earth’s nature and man’s imagination. These elements are pulled together with folk dances that evoke a hearty celebration. One that I felt would be meaningful to our audiences, both symphony newcomers and long-term supporters.”
For tickets, please call the Twichell Box Office at 864-596-9725.
