Congratulations to Young Artists!

The Young Artist Competition last Saturday was very successful.  Audience members, staff, and judges alike were privileged listen to the music made by seventeen young artists. There were seven competitors in the Junior Division and ten competitors in the Senior Division.

Junior Division

Rob Lorch, French Horn

     Accompanist: Liz Seidel

     Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major K. 447, Wolfgang Mozart

            1^st  movement

Edward Shou, piano

     Accompanist: Sophia Kim Tetel

 Concerto in G minor, Op. 25, F. Mendelssohn

          Molto allegro con fuoco

Rowan Squire-Willey, Piano

     Accompanist: Olga Lukantsov

     Concerto in D Major,  Haydn - Hob XVIII #11

            1^st  movement

Zhixi (Jessy) Tang, Flute

     Accompanist:

     Andante in C Major, Mozart

Christina Yang, Piano

     Accompanist: Jami Scott

     Concerto in F minor, S. 1056, J. S. Bach

Phillip  Shou, piano

     Accompanist: Sophia Kim Tetel

     Concerto No. 23, A major, K488, Mozart

           Presto

Lydia Rhea, cello

     Accompanist: Matthew Rhea

 Concerto No. 1 in A minor Op. 33, C. Saint-Saens

          Allegro

The Ladonna Dingledine Junior Divison was won by Rowan Squire-Willey, piano. She performed the 1^st movement of Concerto in D Major,  by Haydn - Hob XVIII #11.  The level of musicianship was very high this year.  Three Junior Division competitors’ outstanding performances were acknowledged during the awards ceremony.  

Senior Divison

Adrian Kothman, flute

     Accompanist: Philip Blane

       Poem for Flute and Orchestra, Charles Griffes

Cameron Keenan, bassoon

     Accompanist: Adrea Hughes

     Concerto in F Major Op. 75, Carl Maria von Weber

           1^st movement  

Ari Brown, Piano

     Accompanist: Haruka Ostojic

     Piano Concerto No. 1 in C maj. Op. 15, Beethoven

          1^st  movement

Clara Abel, Cello

     Accompanist: Kathleen Strutz

     Concerto in D Minor, Edouard Lalo

          Lento Allegro maestoso

Isabella Hu, Piano

     Accompanist:  Haruka Ostojic

      Concerto no. 1 in E minor op. 11, Frederic Chopin

           1^st movement

Carolyn Ronning, Cello

     Accompanist: Anna Briscoe

     Concerto in D minor, op. 33, Lalo

          1^st  movement

Jiayi (Joey) Wu, piano

     Accompanist: Haruka Ostojic

     Concerto No. III in C minor Op. 37, Beethoven

           1^st movement

Oliver Shou, piano

     Accompanist: Sophia Kim Tetel

     Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin

Austin Huntington, cello

     Accompanist: Daniel Schlosberg

     Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, op. 125, Sergei Prokofiev

           Andante con moto

Benjamin Abel, violin

     Accompanist: Kathleen Strutz

     Concerto in e minor, op. 64, Mendelssohn

          3^rd  movement

Austin Huntington, cello, won The Steve Dingledine Senior Division with his extrordinary performance of the Andante con moto of Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, op. 125 by Sergei Prokofiev.  Austin's bio is below. 

Prism Video recorded all the performances and soon will deliver DVDs of each competitor’s performance for the Muncie Symphony to send to each individual.  The public performance of each winner is not yet scheduled. I will make every effort to post  the dates and times.  I have no doubt you will be pleased to hear both talented young musicians!

AUSTIN HUNTINGTON, student of Richard Hirschl, made his solo orchestral debut at age 10 and has performed as guest soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and LaPorte Symphony to name a few. Austin recently made his Orchestra Hall debut with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra performing the Sinfonia Concertante by Prokofiev. He will make his solo debut with the Kalamazoo Symphony, the Northwest Symphony (Chicago), and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra this season. He has performed in Italy, France, Germany, throughout the United States, and celebrated his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 2009. He has been awarded numerous Grand and First Prize awards on the National and International level. Austin has been selected to compete in the 2012 Johansen International String Competition, to be held this March in Washington, D.C.

Austin was awarded the 2011 Stulberg International String Competition Burdick-Thorne Gold Medal, and Bach Award for the best performance of a Bach solo work. He was declared the 2009 National First Place Winner of the Music Teachers National Association Solo String Performance Competition held in Atlanta, Georgia. Austin was selected as one of six cellists representing the United States invited to compete in the 2009 Rostropovich International Cello Competition held in Paris, France. Austin has performed in Masterclass for numerous master clinicians, and has collaborated with such highly esteemed concert artists as Misha Amory, James Dunham, and Itzhak Perlman.

Austin has appeared on NPR's From the Top on their 2011-2012 National Tour taped live at the Music Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey, on stage for a large audience, and was broadcast nationally November 2011. He is the Principal Cellist of the award-winning Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and Encore, CYSO's premiere performing ensemble. During the summer Austin studies cello at the prestigious Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island, New York, and during the winter at the Perlman Music Program winter residency in Sarasota, Florida. He plays a cello made by Francesco Ruggeri of Cremona, ca. 1690, and a fine cello bow made by Eugene Sartory, ca. 1930. Austin is seventeen years old and a senior with High Honors at Saint Joseph's High School in South Bend, Indiana. 

The event was made possible by the generous contributions of 

    Psi Iota Xi, Alpha Chapter

    Prism Video

          Ball State University School of Music

Starbucks  

   701 W. McGalliard Rd. 

 Muncie, IN

    Cardinal Corps

Muncie Symphony Orchestra Hires New Executive Director

MUNCIE -- Muncie Symphony Orchestra's search for a new executive director is over.

The MSO board approved hiring Muncie resident Alena McKenzie at the Oct. 28 board meeting, board President Bob Darroca said.

Currently working part time at MSO, McKenzie will begin her new position full time on Jan. 1. McKenzie replaces Elissa McDonald, who left MSO in September. Her first order of business will be to make sure plans for the current season happen without a hitch.

Alena McKenzie

After that, however, McKenzie won't change things until she gets the pulse of the community. Through surveys of the Ball State University community, season ticket holders and community members at-large, McKenzie wants to know what people want from MSO. She's not just talking about MSO performances either, but educational programs, venues and outreach programs. McKenzie is still working on the logistics of how to get the surveys done.

"Once I see where the gaps are, I will see where we can fill the gaps in," McKenzie said. "My challenge right now is trying to figure out the best way to reach the most people."

Her forethought is indicative of why McKenzie bumped past the competition. In addition, she had experience working for nonprofits and has strengths in organization and funding, Darroca said.

"She already had a plan in her head as far as how she was going to proceed ahead," Darroca said. "Even before she even knew she had the job she had already researched the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and what we needed. She was extremely organized even from the get-go. She had put in a lot of work prior to our even hiring her."

McKenzie is insight research office coordinator at the Center for Media Design at Ball State and has a master's degree in executive development from Ba ll State. She studied music as a child and her mother was a piano teacher. She is MSO's 11th executive director since it was founded in 1949.

"I felt like music was always a big part of my life," McKenzie said. "I thought that my administrative skills could help organize a little bit better, the functioning of the organization and have a different perspective. I thought I would give it a shot and see what happens."

Contact features writer Oseye T. Boyd at 213-5830
The Star Press

The Muncie Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert, Dec 3 4 pm, Emens

The Muncie Symphony Orchestra will present the annual Fisher-Shafer Holiday Concert in Emens Auditorium on December 3 at 4 pm.

The concert, a long-time Muncie tradition will include music by the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, special vocal performances from students in area schools and a thrilling surprise production that will delight concertgoers.  

The Holiday Concert is a sampling of everything the Muncie Symphony Orchestra has to offer, including classical repertoire and traditional holiday favorites.  

Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” op. 96 will be showcased as a fanfare of instruments spotlighted by distinct melodic representations from brass, wind and strings to a lyrical presentation of horn and cello.  

Other classical pieces will include Haydn’s “Symphony no. 26” and Liszt’s “Hungarian Fantasy,” performed by the 2011 Muncie Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition senior division winner Louisa Steup.

A sparkling presentation of the “Finnegan Sing-Along” will be sung by local Muncie Community School children.

Holiday favorites such as “Lightsongs: A Chanukah Melody,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “Jingle Bells Forever” will ring in the holiday season as concertgoers will be invited to sing along as part of the 63-year-old Holiday Concert tradition.

As concert patrons enter the lobby of Emens, a pre-concert benefit will be the opportunity to take advantage of free family portraits, courtesy of Murray’s Jewelers.  Portraits will be made before the concert, and then offered online as a free image download.

An additional concert feature will be the continued support of the Second Harvest Food Bank Holiday Concert Food Drive.  Concertgoers are asked to bring any non-perishable food items or make monetary donations in the lobby of Emens Auditorium before the concert.  

Old National Bank has partnered with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra for the food collection and a special “donate-a-dollar” fundraiser.  From now until December 3,  all Old National Bank branches are accepting food and monetary donations.  Each dollar donated to Second Harvest Food Bank can feed six people a meal this holiday season.

Ticket Information

Tickets may be purchased at the Emens box office, on the campus of Ball State University from 9 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Funding

The Fisher-Shafer Holiday concert is made possible in part with funds provided by the Indiana Arts Commission, The Fisher and Shafer families, Old National Bank, Ivy Tech Community College, Westminster Village, Ball State University and Murray’s Jewelers.

About Muncie Symphony Orchestra

The mission of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra is to stimulate, educate and entertain audiences in East Central Indiana and to provide a meaningful musical experience for professional, community and student musicians, through the performance of fine music and other activities.  Learn more at www.munciesymphony.org.

This photograph was taken last year at the Muncie Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert.  One of the many wonderful holiday traditions at the concert is the opportunity for concertgoers to receive a free holiday portrait.  Portraits will be offered before the concert begins.  Images will be offed online as a free download.  Purchase your Holiday Concert Ticket today and get a free family photograph!

Symphony Art Walk

4th Annual Symphony ArtWalk

          

 Join Cassella’s Kitchen 

                        

                        for Food and Music

Thursday December 1^st

5:00 to 9:00 pm

25% off purchases 

10% of proceeds donated to 

Muncie Symphony League

The Holidays Begin December 3rd ~ Celebrate with the MSO

Rattanovy Preview

You can preview pieces on the program of the November 19th Rattanovy concert by clicking the links in each movement of a piece or clicking on the link above the piece to listen to the album. The audio is on Spotify. You will need to register to hear the music.

Rattanovy Concert Series

Bohuslav Rattay, Conductor

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Benjamin Britten – Britten: String Quartets No. 3 / Simple Symphony


"Simple Symphony"                     Benjamin Britten        

  I. Boisterous Bourrée

 II. Playful Pizzicato

III. Sentimental Sarabande

IV. Frolicsome Finale

Peter Breiner – Beatles Go Baroque

"Beatles Concerto Grosso No.4"       Peter Breiner

  I. Here Comes The Sun

 II. Michelle

III. Goodnight     

IV. Carry That Load

There is no audio for this piece


"A Little ‘Beatles’ Suite"                 arr. Jody Nagel  
1. When I'm 64                                   (2005)
2. Eleanor Rigby

3. Let it Be

Baby You Can Drive My Car!

If you love cars and driving as much as I do, visiting a car dealer showroom is an exhilarating experience!

The style, fit, and finish are there for everyone to admire.

Cars not only take you away physically, they stimulate your imagination, and carry you away in your dreams.

For me cars are all about performance.  

Pushing the limits of the car's abilities is a huge adrenaline rush.

 It's unknown.                        It's exciting. 

                         It's a little risky.                            


                 It. Is. Fun!  

Music is exciting, unknown, a little risky and fun, too. Come to Toyota of Muncie and enjoy music like you've never heard it before!
The first Rattanovy Series concert in the Toyota showroom  features music from
The Beatles to Britten*. 
Come for the style and push the limits of orchestral music at an     
   exhilarating         
         performance 
        you will never forget.

The Muncie Symphony Rattanovy Series opens at 

Toyota and Scion of Munice 

3311 N Nebo Road

November 19th

9:00 p.m.

It's a late night concert with a Beatles theme.

*Peter Breiner’s award winning “Beatles Concerto Grosso IV” Baroque style includes the familiar tunes “Here Comes the Sun,” “Michelle, “Goodnight,” and “Carry That Load”  transcribed for string ensemble.

English composer Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony” is a work for a string orchestra written as a dedication to his childhood music teacher.  This four movement piece is considered one of his first masterpieces as an adult composer.  The most popular second movement “The Playful Pizzicato,” has a spirited melody and charming invention.

Paul McCartney songs “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Eleanor Rigby,” and “Let It Be”  feature in an original composition by Jody Nagel.  

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at the Emens box office from 9 am to 6 pm 
Monday through Friday.

Performance is what it's all about! 

Feel the excitement.

Enjoy the style.

Have. Some. FUN.