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Akron Symphony welcomes guest conductor Daniel Hege

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by Mike Telin

Hege-Daniel“I can look at all four symphonies of Brahms and say, ‘Oh that one is my favorite.’ Then I think, ‘No this one is,’” conductor Daniel Hege said during a recent telephone conversation. “But I have so much admiration for the Second Symphony. It has a lot of passion and emotional power all the way through, including a brilliant finish.”

On Saturday, January 20 at 8:00 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall, Daniel Hege will return to the Akron Symphony podium to lead a program that features Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 and Hungarian Dances Nos. 1 and 5. The concert will also include Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Gabriela Martinez as soloist. Click here for ticket information.

Hege, who serves as Music Director of the Wichita Symphony as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony and the Binghamton Philharmonic, said that developing Saturday’s program was an organic process.

[Read more…]

Akron Symphony: “Pictures at an Exhibition” (Nov. 18)

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by Daniel Hathaway

ASO-Wilkins-Mathis-ADJ“Pictures at an Exhibition” was the title of the Akron Symphony’s concert in E.J. Thomas Hall on Saturday evening, November 18, but there were more pictures on the wall than those by Victor Hartmann that inspired Mussorgsky’s famous musical stroll through a gallery. The other two artists whose work was projected on either side of the stage were Charles E. Burchfield and Matthias Grünewald, their art the catalysts for pieces by Morton Gould and Paul Hindemith.

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Akron Symphony Orchestra: 15 minutes with cellist Tony Rymer

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Rymer-Tony“The purpose of art is expression, but I think it’s also about empathy,” cellist Tony Rymer said in a recent conversation. “When you’re studying a piece by a composer who died a couple hundred years ago, in the end, you’re trying to understand why they wrote it that way and what they wanted it to sound like. You have to connect with someone from a different time — you kind of become friends with dead people through the music.”

On Saturday, September 23 at 8:00 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall, Rymer will join the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Christopher Wilkins for the season opener, “Slavic Soul,” featuring Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. Wilkins will lead a pre-concert discussion at 7:00 pm.

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Akron Symphony & Choruses to present Mendelssohn’s Elijah

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by Daniel Hathaway

mendelssohnconductingelijahAt least one scholar has pointed out that the British entered the 19th century as a nation of folk singers, but emerged as a nation of oratorio singers. The Birmingham Triennial Festival, founded in 1787, became one of the principal commissioners of new works for large choruses and orchestras, and one of that festival’s favorite composers was Felix Mendelssohn.

Also a favorite of Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort Albert, Mendelssohn wrote and conducted St. Paul and his Second Piano Concerto for the 1837 Festival, and composed Elijah for the 1846 event, the year before he died. Elijah became so popular that it was performed at every successive festival until the series ended in 1912.

On Saturday, May 6 at 8:00 pm, Christopher Wilkins will conduct the Akron Symphony and the combined voices of the Akron Symphony Chorus, the Summit Choral Society’s Masterworks Chorale, and the University of Akron choruses, prepared by Marie Bucoy-Calavan, in Mendelssohn’s famous oratorio. [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical joins with Akron Symphony to present violinist Joshua Bell (November 7)

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by Robert Rollin

BELL-JoshuaLast Friday night E. J. Thomas Hall overflowed to the rafters for an appearance by the stellar violinist Joshua Bell with the Akron Symphony. Conducted by music director Christopher Wilkins, the Symphony collaborated with the Tuesday Musical Association to sponsor the event. Bell’s exemplary performance of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in g, op. 26, was the highlight of the evening. [Read more…]

Preview: Pianist Martina Filjak returns to Northeast Ohio to play with the Akron Symphony on October 26

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by Mike Telin

FILJAK-Martina-Green“A return performance is always special,” Croatian pianist Martina Filjak told us by telephone from Colorado Springs. “It was a very good concert and I have to say, the people in Akron are not only good musicians but they are also really nice. We left things on a very positive note and that is why this return is so special.”

The concert Filjak is referring to was her 2011 performance of Rachmaninoff’s second concerto with the Akron Symphony. In her review for this publication Elizabeth Kalanja wrote “What Filjak pulled from the keys was a sensual performance and her stage presence was mesmerizing… The orchestra and Filjak connected in a way that made it seem as if they always performed together and their joint effort resulted in an inspiring performance…”

On Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 pm, Martina Filjak returns to the Thomas Hall stage for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Akron Symphony under the direction of Christopher Wilkins. The concert also includes the Sibelius tone poems Finlandia and The Swan of Tuonela (featuring Cynthia Warren, English horn) and his Symphony no. 7.

Since winning first prize at the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) Martina Filjak has developed a very busy international career. [Read more…]

Review: Akron Symphony celebrates 40th Anniversary of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall (October 12)

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by Daniel Hathaway

EJ-Thomas-exteriorThere were no speeches on Saturday evening when Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony celebrated the fortieth anniversary of E.J. Thomas Hall, just plenty of rich orchestral sound, cleverly designed to make a dry acoustical space ring with festive sonority.

Canny programming added to the celebratory nature of the evening. Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture (led by UA’s Guy Victor Bordo) contributed a sense of gravitas to a joint observance between the ASO and the University of Akron, and UA composer Nikola Resanovic’s infectious clarinet concerto provided bubbles for the anniversary toast. Richard Strauss’s brilliant orchestral tone poem (and monumental tribute to himself), Ein Heldenleben, gave the orchestra an opportunity to show itself off, something it did unabashedly and to brilliant effect.

One big factor in pulling this celebration off so successfully was Wilkins’s decision to fill out the string sections for the occasion, and to elevate winds and brass on a series of risers to better equalize balances and projection. [Read more…]

Preview: Akron Symphony to celebrate fortieth anniversary of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall on October 12

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by Mike Telin

EJ-Thomas-exteriorWhen the Edwin J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall opened at the University of Akron in October 1973, the multi-use space received rave reviews from critics. The 2,955 seat auditorium also became home to the Akron Symphony. On Saturday, October 12 beginning at 8:00 pm, Music Director Christopher Wilkins will lead the ASO in a concert that celebrates the Hall’s 40th anniversary. The program features Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture conducted by Guy Victor Bordo, Nikola Resanovic’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (Collateral Damage) with Kristina Belisle Jones as soloist, and Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben.

As is the case with many of the world’s concert halls, E.J. Thomas has presented acoustical challenges for the symphony. But as Wilkins points out, “the positives of E.J. Thomas are easy to enumerate. It’s a very comfortable space for the audience and I think it’s an interesting piece of architecture. Also the physical location is ideal because it’s right on the line between the University campus and downtown and as the campus has moved toward downtown that whole area is so active.”

Wilkins says he chose Ein Heldenleben not so much because it was autobiographical for Strauss but rather it was a musical story of an artist’s life. [Read more…]

Preview: Jeannette Sorrell to guest conduct the Akron Symphony on February 9

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by Mike Telin

“ItSORRELL-Jeannette feels as though baroque music is finding its way back onto the programs of modern symphony orchestras,” says the Award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell. “I think that symphony orchestras have noticed how very popular baroque music has become.”

On Saturday, February 9 at 8:00 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, Sorrell will make her third appearance as guest conductor of the Akron Symphony in a program featuring Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1 and 5 and selections from Handel’s Water Music Suites. Sorrell’s previous ASO appearances have featured an all-Mozart program as well a concert of music by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. “This is the first time I will be conducting baroque repertoire with the Akron Symphony. It will be fun and we are all excited about the program.” [Read more…]

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