April 20, 2013 MSO Concert: Who ARE these people?!

This is the first in a short series about the music and people you will meet at the MSO Season Finale concert on April 20^th.

Most of the people you will see are old friends and seasoned MSO musicians.  No matter who else is on stage, conductor, choir, dancers, it is the talent and incredible dedication to music who make the music you hear.

Muncie Symphony Orchestra at Sursa Hall
February 23, 2013

All my life I have heard the term “sacrifice for missionary work”, and it is applicable in the world of the musical arts at MSO.  Sacrifice is not necessarily all monetary.  Just one example: One particular MSO employee has a Master of Music from Indiana University.  Full time employment earning a living as a musician is very rare and difficult to achieve.  This musician has one full time job, one part time job, and is a regular section musician for the three regional orchestras, Muncie Symphony, Anderson Symphony, and Marion Philharmonic.  Musicians are sent music several weeks before rehearsals begin. They are expected to know the music when they sit for the first rehearsal.

Rehearsal time can be used to plan and rehearse the tempos and dynamics that make the music as breathtaking as Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony  experienced at MSO’s February 23^rd concert.  Commonly orchestras have concerts around the same time of the year.  The next several weeks this individual’s schedule is inhuman:  Job 1: 8a – 5p, Job 2 5:15p – 6:30p, Orchestra rehearsal (including travel time) 6:45p – 11:15p.

Rehearsals for MSO’s April 20^th concert begin on April 17^th.  This season, the orchestra, the conductors and the soloists face a unique and challenging situation to bring live music to the stage.  Each is new to their role in creating an ensemble.  Ensemble performance is extremely nuanced.  Small ensembles do not as a rule have a conductor.  The musicians know intuitively and from much rehearsal how and when to change a tempo and a dynamic, and how to play together as one instrument.  Orchestras need a conductor to achieve this level of musicianship.  Ideally, the conductor and orchestra work together for many seasons and learn how to communicate to achieve beautiful music.  This season, you will see the fourth conductor of the MSO.  (And there is yet a fifth at Festival on the Green.)  The search is continuing for a Music Director/Conductor.

 

Neal Gittleman conducts the Season Finale Concert.  You will meet him in another post in this series.

Music IS Language ~ Come HEAR for yourself!

Language has been around for millenniums, and it is more than
the sound produced by human vocal folds.

Language is communication in many forms. Some language has no sound.

Morse Code

Cuneiform

body Language

Braille

Music is language, too.

Using rhythm, tempo, and volume music can express or evoke any emotion,
create pictures, convey stories,
 change moods, and stimulate imagination and creativity.

Rhythm

It's very simply accomplished, really.

This Saturday, November 17, 
the Muncie Symphony String Quartet
will give FREE interactive performance presentations
demonstrating how music is language.

You can catch us at the Maring-Hunt branch of the Muncie Public Library at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Then try your hand (or mouth) at musical language yourself.

After each presentation, string and wind instruments are 
available for you to make music-
or at least make sounds!  Music students from Ball State University will be there to 
help you coax as much from each instrument as you can.

Music on the Move's Music is Language is presented by Muncie Symphony Orchestra
in partnership with Ball State University School of Music as part of MSO's education and outreach initiatives.

We could not do this without generous support from these businesses:

     

Standby Tickets for Romantic Hero tomorrow

We are offering STANDBY TICKETS 

 at the Sursa Box Office one hour prior to the concert. 

adults $15 (half price) and students $5  

Standby seating is based on available seating immediately before the beginning of the concert. Please purchase your standby ticket by 7:15 p.m. and be in the Mueller Lobby 10 minutes before the concert.  Standby patrons will be escorted to their seats and must be seated quickly. In the event that no seats are available for standby patrons, a full refund will be given immediately at the Sursa Box Office.

of a most URGENT nature

In just ten days, violinist Anna Vayman takes the stage for Romantic Hero! 

a Muncie Symphony Orchestra classical concert 

The concert is in the extraordinary Sursa Hall.  

Sursa Hall is a musical jewel for the entire community, blending first-rate acoustical design with musical intimacy. It is designed to foster a close connection between performers and audiences, and its acoustical tuning capabilities allow performers to adjust the hall's sound qualities to suit their individual preferences.  The cornerstone of Ball State University's Music Instruction Building  is named in honor of benefactors David and Mary Jane Sursa.  credit

Tickets to performances in 600-seat Sursa Performance Hall, sell out fast.  

Seating is general admission.

ADULTS $ 30 

Students tickets are FREE with BSU or IVY Tech Student until March 30th. 

All student tickets at the door $5

 Buy tickets at Emens Box Office or Ticketmaster.  

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 Mvt.1 - Sayaka Shoji 

A pre-concert talk by Bohuslav Rattay and guests at 6:30 p.m. in Sursa Hall is free with a concert ticket.
Guests:
Peter Blume, director of the David Owsley Museum of Art
Laura Kuykendall, assistant professor of art history at Ball State University.

More detail about the MSO concert, Romantic Hero! HERE