The Canton Symphony Orchestra‘s upcoming MasterWorks concert on March 2, 2019, promises a night full of witty composers and their hilarious compositions. Joining the CSO on stage for this concert is renowned pianist Jeffrey Biegel, who will show off his talents on two of the works on the program. The winner of our 3rd annual Music Educator of the Year award will be announced at this concert as well. This concert has been generously sponsored by Danbury Senior Living.
While many composers wrote very serious and artful orchestral music, some of them also took the time to write lighter pieces and let their humor live in the music. Our concert starts with a symphony by Haydn, whose music always seems to emote joy and humor, sometimes looking to surprise the audience with sudden volume and melodic changes for his own amusement. After Haydn is Shostakovich’s second piano concerto, performed by soloist Jeffrey Biegel. Shostakovich is probably best known as a sarcastic Russian composer, purportedly looking for ways to thumb his nose at the Stalin regime in his music while keeping it patriotic enough to pass the sensors. After intermission Assistant Conductor Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz steps on the podium for Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals, while Maestro Zimmermann narrates this wistful voyage through a musical zoo. Finally we end with music by Jacques Ibert, known for his light-hearted French music.
Since 1999, Jeffrey Biegel has commissioned ten composers to bring new music for piano and orchestra to the repertoire. On February 10, 2019, Kenneth Fuchs’s “Piano Concerto: ‘Spiritualist’” with the London Symphony Orchestra led by JoAnn Falletta garnered a Grammy win in the Best Classical Compendium category, featuring Mr. Biegel as its soloist. Considered the most prolific artist of his generation, Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon Mr. Biegel, for his achievements in performance, recordings, chamber music, champion of new music, composer, arranger and educator. Among his recent recordings and performances, Mr. Biegel performed the World Premiere of Giovanni Allevi’s ‘Concerto for Piano and Orchestra’ with Orchestra Kentucky and in Milan’s Teatro dal Vermes, recording with Orchestra Sinfonica Italiana.
Tickets for the Canton Symphony Orchestra concert on March 2, 2019 range in price from $28-$48 and are available online at www.cantonsymphony.org, by phone at 330-452-2094 or in person at the Canton Symphony Orchestra administrative offices in the Zimmermann Symphony Center at 2331 17th Street NW in Canton weekdays 9am-5pm.
Founded in 1937, the Canton Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its 81st season and is a fully professional ensemble and organization dedicated to performing concerts that enrich, educate and entertain residents of Stark County and beyond. The orchestra performs classical, holiday, and a variety of educational programs in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, 2323 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio, as well as other venues in Stark County. For more information, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org or call (330)452-2094. Administrative offices are located at the Zimmermann Symphony Center 2331 17th Street NW, Canton OH 44708.
