Sunday, June 2nd, 3 pm
Doors open at 2pm
$30
360 W. Western Ave., 2nd floor

Those unable to make the May 21 audition date may schedule an audition for September 10, 2013.

Parents and children ages 8-11 who are interested may contact Karen Vander Zanden, Director of Education for more information.  231-726-3231 ext. 231
kvanderzanden@westmichigansymphony.org

West Michigan Symphony Children’s Choir Information

The weekend performance will feature:

• Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” Op. 96
• Richard Strauss’ “Don Juan” Op. 20, a tone poem after Nikolaus Lenau
• Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 38, in B flat major with pianist Alessio Bax

More information, as well as expanded program notes with audio samples, is available online at the Symphony’s website.  Both concerts will be held in the majestic Frauenthal Center for Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon at 7:30 p.m.

“We have had a spectacular 2012-13 season, and I am pleased to welcome Alessio to help us close out our spectacular season in style,” said West Michigan Symphony Music Director Scott Speck. “An incredibly talented pianist who has a promising international career, he will amaze concertgoers with his powerful rendition of the Brahms’ concerto, one of the most challenging and rewarding in the repertoire.

“I am thrilled that we’re finally performing a Brahms piano concerto and a Strauss tone poem for the first time in more than a decade.”

The weekend concert will open with Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” Op. 96.  Shostakovich composed the overture at the request of a desperate conductor of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, who needed a new composition to open the festivities celebrating the 37^th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution. The overture begins with a rather conventional fanfare but goes on to develop a series of themes bearing some of the distinct Shostakovich trademarks of style and orchestration, but in an upbeat “Soviet sanitation,” shorn of the acerbic bitterness of his serious – and often private – works.

Strauss’ tone poem offers a purely instrumental rendition of Lenau’s “Don Juan.”  While the piece was the composer’s third, it was the first to be publicly performed and gained him international recognition.  The principal theme, incorporating an orchestral fanfare and an upward-swooping melody, is a composite musical idea expressing the hero’s wild abandon. Three subsidiary themes follow, each representing one of the Don’s conquests; a soaring violin solo, a gasping flute theme and a sultry Spanish oboe melody all develop alongside the restless motives of the Don.
The second half of the tone poem begins with the so-called “carnival scene” that corresponds to Lenau’s masked ball.  The Don’s conscience is haunted by the recurring themes of his former lovers, prompting him to grow increasingly manic.  Wandering despondently through a churchyard, he comes upon the statue of a nobleman whom he has killed, and in a final act of bravado invites him to supper.
Instead of the stone guest, the nobleman’s son arrives seeking revenge. Don Juan puts up a valiant fight, until suddenly the music halts and a minor chord precedes a blast on the trumpets as Don Juan surrenders to his adversary and his despair – the opposite of Don Giovanni’s fiery defiance.

The final piece, Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 38, in B flat major, will feature Italian pianist Alessio Bax.

Bax has been praised for creating “a ravishing listening experience,” with playing that is dazzling, lyrical and insightful.  He has appeared as a soloist with more than 90 orchestras and has received first prize at the Leeds and Hamamatsu piano competitions and the 2013 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award.

He is also a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.  Earlier this year, Bax debuted at Carnegie Hall.  Last summer marked Bax’s first appearance at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and a return to the Bard Music Festival, along with five more festival performances.  He has several CDs to his credit and expects to release a recording of Mozart piano concertos this summer.

Bax graduated with top honors at the record age of 14 from the conservatory of his hometown in Bari, Italy. He studied in France with Françios-Joël Thiollier and attended the Chigiana Academy in Siena under Joaquín Achúcarro. He moved to Dallas in 1994 to continue his studies with Achúcarro at SMU’s Meadow’s School of the Arts, where he is now a member of the teaching faculty. He and his wife, pianist Lucille Chung, reside in New York City.

“Alessio Bax has been on our radar screen for years,” said Speck. “How great that he is gaining new international recognition just as he makes his first appearance with the West Michigan Symphony.”

The first movement of the Brahms’ piece vacillates between dignified serenity and high drama. The first half of the opening theme is a gentle call on a solo French horn echoed by the piano, which continues with a series of growls and a grand arch of arpeggios over five and a half octaves before launching into a cadenza.

Brahms called the second movement a scherzo, the Italian word for game or joke. But this game is deadly serious, passionate and even angry with syncopated, driving momentum, a temporary second quieter theme and finally a scherzo cadence that almost crashes into the trio with a fanfare-like theme – then is cut short by the return of the scherzo.

By the time he premiered his second concerto in 1881, Brahms was a revered master. Brahms is said to have referred to the piece, one of the most gigantic piano concertos ever written, jokingly as “the long terror.”

Single tickets for this concert are $15, $20, $35 and $45 and may be purchased online at www.westmichigansymphony.org or by calling 231.726.3231.  Student tickets are $5 for this concert but are not available online.  College students must present a valid ID when they purchase tickets.

About West Michigan Symphony

As one of the few professional regional orchestras in Michigan, West Michigan Symphony has played a leading role in the region’s cultural community for nearly 75 years.  Founded as the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, WMS now serves a regional audience with eight pairs of concerts annually, along with dozens of educational and outreach activities for children and adults. WMS oversees operations for the West Michigan Youth Symphony.  For more information, visit www.westmichigansymphony.org.

Jan Horvath was Christine in the original “Phantom of the Opera.”  Debbie Gravitte won a Tony Award for Jerome Robbins’ “Broadway.” Christiane Noll originated the role of Emma in “Jekyll & Hyde.”  Together, they will sing Broadway standards from the pens of Marvin Hamlisch, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne and Frederick Lerner and Alan Loewe.

Horvath, Gravitte and Noll will dazzle in their performances of the music from

• Jule Styne’s “Gypsy” and “Funny Girl”
• Cy Coleman’s “Sweet Charity”
• Marvin Hamlisch’s “Chorus Line”
• Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” and “West Side Story”
• Jerry Herman’s “Mame”
• Andersson/Ulvaeus’ “Mamma Mia”
• Lerner & Loewes’ “My Fair Lady”
• Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Evita”
• Stephen Schwartz’s “Wicked”
• Frank Wildhorn’s “Jekyll & Hyde”

More information about the program and the soloists is available online at the Symphony’s website.  Both concerts will be held in the majestic Frauenthal Center for Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon at 7:30 p.m.

“The West Michigan Symphony audience has shown a great appreciation for our pops concerts,” said West Michigan Symphony Music Director Scott Speck.  “We have had huge successes with ‘Oh What a Night’ in 2011 and ‘I heart the 80s’ in 2012. ‘The 3 Broadway Divas’ might just beat them all.

“Jan, Debbie and Christiane are among the most entertaining Broadway performers I have ever met, and together they are a knockout.  They have gorgeous voices and are hilariously entertaining.  They will transport the audience to New York for a night in a program that is sure to please every Broadway fan.”

Horvath is a veteran of five Broadway shows including the original company of “The Phantom of the Opera,” where she played Christine and Carlotta, “The Threepenny Opera,” starring Sting, “Sweet Charity” directed by Bob Fosse, and the revival of “Oliver!”  In addition to her Broadway credits, Horvath sang the leading role of Grizabella in the National Touring Company of “Cats.”

Noll is a Helen Hayes Award winner and Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee who has performed on Broadway in “Ragtime” and “Jekyll & Hyde.”  She has performed on tour in “Urinetown,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Grease,” “Miss Saigon,” “City of Angels” and “South Pacific.”  She has also performed at the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall.  Noll has made appearances worldwide and has released four solo CDs.

Tony Award-winning actress Gravitte has also been recognized with a Drama Desk Award and A Showstopper Award. Her Broadway debut in the original cast of “They’re Playing Our Song” led to appearances in “Perfectly Frank,” “Blues in the Night,” “Ain’t Broadway Grand,” “Zorba,” “Chicago” and “Les Miserables.”  Gravitte has acted on television, released three solo CDs and lent her voice to Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.”

Single tickets for this concert are $18, $23, $38 and $48 and may be purchased online at www.westmichigansymphony.org; in person at the West Michigan Symphony Ticket Office, Suite 409 (4th floor) in the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, 425 W. Western Ave., Muskegon; or by calling 231.726.3231.  Student tickets are $10 for this concert but are not available online.  College students must present a valid ID when they purchase tickets.

About West Michigan Symphony

As one of the few professional regional orchestras in Michigan, West Michigan Symphony has played a leading role in the region’s cultural community for nearly 75 years.  Founded as the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, WMS now serves a regional audience with eight pairs of concerts annually, along with dozens of educational and outreach activities for children and adults. WMS oversees operations for the West Michigan Youth Symphony.  For more information, visit www.westmichigansymphony.org

More than 4,000 third-fifth graders from 50 elementary schools across West Michigan will be both audience and performers in three concerts at the Frauenthal Center in downtown Muskegon.  The elementary students have spent the year studying the orchestra and its instruments, as well as how to read and play music on the recorder, through Link Up, a free program brought to the public schools through the educational outreach efforts of the West Michigan Symphony.

WMS is the only orchestra in Michigan affiliated with the Link Up program of Carnegie’s Weill Music Institute.  The WMS Link Up partnership includes professional development in the fall for teachers, classroom visits from WMS professional musicians, curriculum materials, assistance with transportation and a highly interactive Link Up concert.

The Symphony has raised more than $60,000 to support the 2012-13 program. For the third year, the Symphony will host three performances to accommodate increased demand from area elementary students.

Back-to-back concert performances will take place at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. utilizing Link Up’s “The Orchestra Rocks!” curriculum for the second time.  The symphony will perform seven classical and pops pieces, inviting its student audience to join in by playing their recorders, singing or moving.  They will be joined by the Mona Shores high school drum line under the direction of Jason Boyden and local actor and comedian Nicholas Dressel, who will host the concert.

“Our students, their parents and teachers look forward to this concert all year,” said Karen Vander Zanden, WMS director of education and community engagement programs.  “We are fortunate to be able to offer the Link Up program to so many schools in the region.

“Not many beginning music students have the chance to enjoy – and participate with – a professional symphony orchestra. It is an exceptional opportunity for the students to learn by being truly engaged with the material.”

Vander Zanden and Music Director Scott Speck spend months enhancing the script provided by Carnegie.  The interactive performance, which is free to teachers and schools, allows the students to see and understand how the orchestra moves together.  General tickets for the public, which is welcome on a first-come, first-served basis, are $5, which is used to defray the costs of the program.

“By getting kids involved with the music in such a holistic way, we are really able to help them develop a much deeper understanding and appreciation,” Speck said.  “We can illustrate how music can be more than just listening to different pitches, rhythms and dynamics.  We also can play along, sing or dance, and think about how the music makes us feel.”

Students have spent the year in classrooms from Muskegon to Hudsonville to Sparta learning to play their recorders.  They receive instructional visits during the year from WMS musicians who have adopted schools through the program.

In addition, as part of the Link Up program, the Weill Music Institute provides participating schools with:

• Curriculum guide and CD for teachers featuring lessons on singing, playing the soprano recorder or violin, reading and notating music, and composing and improvising music
• Workbook for each student
• Professional development for teachers and orchestra administrators
• Complete concert script, repertoire list and accompanying visuals
• Access to Carnegie Hall’s Online Resource Center with educational materials, including the Link Up Beginnings skills-focused curriculum and audio for teachers and students
• Ongoing support and consultation in the areas of professional development, program implementation and media/publicity planning

“The concert provides students with a wonderful opportunity to show what they have learned to their teachers and parents,” Vander Zanden said.  “It is always a fun day for our musicians, too, as they watch the excitement and joy of the children as they perform.

“For many of these students, it will be their first time in a concert hall.  This is our ninth year of participating in this program, and we have found it provides a tremendous experience for students.”

Parents and those interested in attending should call the WMS ticket office at 213.726.3231, ext. 23 to reserve a seat since the concert typically fills up.

About West Michigan Symphony

As one of the few professional regional orchestras in Michigan, West Michigan Symphony has played a leading role in the region’s cultural community for nearly 75 years.  Founded as the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, WMS now serves a regional audience with eight pairs of concerts annually, along with dozens of educational and outreach activities for children and adults. WMS oversees operations for the West Michigan Youth Symphony.  For more information, visit www.westmichigansymphony.org.

Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall

The Weill Music Institute creates broad-reaching music education and community programs that play a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Woven into the fabric of the Carnegie Hall concert season, these programs occur at Carnegie Hall as well as in schools and throughout neighborhoods, providing musical opportunities for everyone, from preschoolers to adults, new listeners to emerging professionals. For more information, visit carnegiehall.org/weillmusicinstitute.

The West Michigan Youth Symphony will hold auditions on Tuesday, May 21 for the 2013-2014 season.

Open auditions will be held beginning at 6 p.m. at Muskegon Community College. The Youth Symphony is seeking to fill positions in the following sections: all strings, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba and percussion. Sixth-graders through college sophomores who are members of school music ensembles are eligible to participate.

The Youth Symphony is also looking for students to join the Debut Strings program.  Launched in 2012, Debut Strings is a program intended for students who have not yet played in a large orchestra ensemble. This group calls for students who have strong note reading skills and at least two years prior instruction.

Muskegon Country Club
2801 Lakeshore Drive
Muskegon, MI 49441

AND THEY’RE OFF…
Join the WMS Board of Directors in the winners circle to toast the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at the Muskegon Country Club. We’ve lined up our best thoroughbreds and jockeys for an evening of entertainment including dinner, cocktails (mint juleps, of course) and a silent auction. Ladies, please don your biggest Derby hats and gentlemen wear your brightest ties.

5:00 PM    Paddock Bar :: Cocktails and ‘Mint Juleps’
6:24 PM     Post Time :: The fastest 2 minutes in sports!
7:30 PM     Trackside Dining :: Kentucky Inspired Dinner
8:30 PM    Horsing Around :: Live Music with Dueling Pianos
9:00 PM     Backstretch :: Silent Auction Checkout

DUELING PIANOS
Greg Poltrock and Kevin Viilo create a fun, request driven sing-along party atmosphere!

ENJOY SWEET VICTORY
RSVP BY APRIL 26, 2013
Call today to reserve your spot at the starting gate! For information contact Karen Jackson, Reservation Chair, at (231) 798.3448 or kjackson@gmail.com

The 7 p.m. talk, which is free and open to the public, will focus on some of Broadway’s most beloved musicals, including;

• Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” an adaptation of James Michener’s Pulitzer Prizing winning book that delivers a powerful message on racism
• Jerry Bock’s “Fiddler on the Roof,” which earned him a Tony for the memorable story of a father trying to maintain his Jewish religious traditions against modern life crowding in
• Jule Styne’s “Funny Girl,” which was one of his many successful Broadway scores
• John Kander’s “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” part of a long Broadway career that began behind the scenes as a substitute rehearsal pianist and then stage manager
• Charles Strouse’s “Bye Bye Birdie,” his first Broadway musical that paired him with his longtime collaborator Lee Adams and earned him his first Tony.

“The tradition of Jewish composers on Broadway goes far beyond ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ ” Speck explained. “From Kurt Weill to George Gershwin to Stephen Sondheim, Broadway has a rich tradition of embracing and elevating Jewish composers and the universal stories they tell through their music.”

Last spring, Speck led a discussion of Jewish composers in Hollywood at B’nai Israel, which is located at 391 W. Webster Ave. in Muskegon.

About West Michigan Symphony

As one of the few professional regional orchestras in Michigan, West Michigan Symphony has played a leading role in the region’s cultural community for nearly 75 years.  Founded as the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, WMS now serves a regional audience with eight pairs of concerts annually, along with dozens of educational and outreach activities for children and adults. WMS oversees operations for the West Michigan Youth Symphony.

The “Women as Muses” performance will feature guest conductor Teresa Cheung:
• George Tsontakis’ “Clair de Lune;” the composer will join the Symphony for rehearsals and the performances
• Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin, Op. 64 in E minor with violinist Elena Urioste
• Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61, in C Major

More information, as well as expanded program notes with audio samples, is available online at the Symphony’s website. Both concerts will be held in the majestic Frauenthal Center for Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon at 7:30 p.m.

“I am pleased to entrust the baton to my respected friend and colleague, Teresa Cheung for these performances,” said West Michigan Symphony Music Director Scott Speck. “West Michigan is in for a treat. Teresa has lent her talent to many other symphonies, including Mobile, Fort Wayne, Nashville and Phoenix, with powerful results.”

Cheung is orchestra director and lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and also serves as music director and conductor of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania, and the resident conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard College Orchestra in New York. Since 2004 she has been the assistant conductor for the Bard Music Festival and SummerScape, serving as rehearsal conductor for its opera and concert productions and a clinician for Lincoln Center’s “Meet The Artist” program since 2007.

Cheung will begin the concert with Tsontakis’ “Clair de Lune” The composer is planning to attend both performances, and will address the audiences at each concert. The award-winning composer’s catalogue continues to grow dramatically as prominent orchestras and musicians commission and record new works. In recent seasons, his works have been heard with great frequency in concerts throughout the world, including dozens in Europe.

Tsontakis composed the two-movement piece in 2006 for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, dedicating it to “my devoted and wonderful mother.” The work pays homage to Debussy, whose works – not only “Clair de Lune” – are hinted at throughout.

The first part, titled “Moonlit,” begins with two atmospheric motives that imbue the piece with a cool, but not chilly, opening. An ascending scale leads into what might be called the piece’s second theme. The middle section increases the tempo, after which the piece returns to the more atmospheric mood of the opening.

The second part, “Jeux,” adopts another Debussy-like theme. Together, a spiky melody and bouncy rhythm present a slightly hysterical tapestry until things gradually slow down. By way of tying things together, Tsontakis brings back a variant of the principal melody of the first part.

Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin, Op. 64 in E minor will feature violinist Elena Urioste. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and completed graduate studies at the Julliard School, Urioste is up to the challenge, Speck says.

Recently selected as a BBC New Generation Artist and featured on the cover of Symphony magazine, Urioste has been hailed by critics and audiences alike for her lush tone, the nuanced lyricism of her playing and her commanding stage presence.

Her first appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra took place at age 13. Since that time, she has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Antonio and Sarasota symphonies. In addition to her stateside appearances, Urioste has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Wurzburg Philharmonic and Hungary’s Orchestra Dohnányi Budafok.

Urioste is the recipient of the inaugural Sphinx Medal of Excellence, London Music Masters Award, a Salon de Virtuosi career grant, and a first prize winner of the Sion International Violin Competition where she was also awarded the audience prize and the prize for best performance of the competition’s newly commissioned work.

Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E minor had a long gestation period, with the composer beginning the work in 1838 but not finishing it until six years later. Instead of the usual orchestral exposition of the main themes, the opening features the violin presenting the principal theme. Mendelssohn gives the second part of the theme to the orchestra and the winds.

The andante emerges out of a single quiet bassoon tone, emanating from the last chord of the opening movement. After a short transitional passage, the solo violin introduces a simple, almost religious theme. The middle section in the minor mode turns slightly darker. Another transition, based on the opening theme of the concerto, leads into the sparkling finale, which Mendelssohn saved to demonstrate the violin’s virtuoso possibilities.

The concert will close with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 61, in C Major. Schumann looked to his beloved wife, Clara, for inspiration – although he felt an underlying professional envy of the brilliant concert pianist. The composer was emotionally unstable, surviving a suicide attempt at age 44 only to die two years later and leave his wife to support their eight children with a relentless series of concert tours.

The unusually long, slow introduction to the Symphony combines and interweaves two contrasting themes and an unorthodox acceleration in tempo that puts the audience on the edge of its seat. The tempo and tension of the introduction increase until the aggressive main allegro theme erupts, immediately incorporating the oboe duet from the introduction.

The following Scherzo theme is largely agitated and continues the battle of the contrasting moods. The runaway coda repeats the horn call from the first movement. The third movement is one of Schumann’s most moving utterances. After the heart-felt adagio, the finale bursts forth with a joyous voice, corresponding to Schumann’s statement that he was feeling himself again.

Single tickets for this concert are $15, $20, $35 and $45 and may be purchased online at www.westmichigansymphony.org; in person at the West Michigan Symphony Ticket Office, Suite 409 (4th floor) in the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, 425 W. Western Ave., Muskegon; or by calling 231.726.3231. Student tickets are $5 for this concert but are not available online. College students must present a valid ID when they purchase tickets.

About West Michigan Symphony
As one of the few professional regional orchestras in Michigan, West Michigan Symphony has played a leading role in the region’s cultural community for nearly 75 years. Founded as the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, WMS now serves a regional audience with eight pairs of concerts annually, along with dozens of educational and outreach activities for children and adults. WMS oversees operations for the West Michigan Youth Symphony.

CONCERT PREVIEW

Pops.1
Cirque de la Symphonie
Friday and Saturday, September 27 – 28, 2013
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Scott Speck, conductor

Back by popular demand and bringing additional performers and more acts. Cirque de la Symphonie is a unique and elegant fusion of cirque and orchestra, adapting the stunning artistry of cirque with the majesty of the West Michigan Symphony. The program will feature works from the world’s greatest composers while showcasing the best of cirque including aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen.
(Series A, C)

Masterworks.1
Gypsy Fire
Friday and Saturday, November 1 – 2, 2013
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Scott Speck, conductor
Gabriela Martinez, piano 

Kódaly : Dances of Galánta
Liszt : Piano Concerto no. 1         
Bartók : Concerto for Orchestra

Superstar-in-the-making Gabriela Martinez embodies every nuance and flamboyant flourish of Liszt Piano Concerto no. 1. Bubbling and intoxicating Hungarian melodies permeate the Dances of Galánta by Zoltán Kodály. And the West Michigan Symphony flexes its formidable chops on Béla Bartók’s tuneful, nostalgic, and hair-raisingly exciting Concerto for Orchestra.
(Series A, B)

Pops.2
Swingin’ Holiday Celebration
Friday and Saturday, December 13 – 14, 2013
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Clyde Mitchell, guest conductor
Teri Dale Hansen and Nat Chandler, vocalists

Broadway stars Teri Dale Hansen and Nat Chandler join the West Michigan Symphony with guest conductor Clyde Mitchell for a Swingin’ Holiday Celebration with something for everyone—wonderful “swing” tunes from such greats as Ellington, Fitzgerald, Porter, Mercer and more!  A Holiday show featuring traditional songs in a swinging new style!
(Series A, C)

Masterworks.2
Surprise and Classical Symphonies
Friday ONLY, February 7, 2014
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Scott Speck, conductor
Jennifer Walvoord, WMS concertmaster
Gabriel Renteria, WMS principal oboe
Vireo Ensemble: Jonathan Holden, clarinet, Caroline Holden, violin, Carrie Pierce, cello, Kelly Karamanov, piano

Bach : Concerto for Violin and Oboe, featuring Jennifer Walvoord, violin and Gabriel Renteria, oboe
Haydn : Symphony no. 94 “Surprise”
Schickele : Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano, Vireo Ensemble
Prokofiev : Classical Symphony

The WMS explores Haydn’s most famous and rollicking work, the Surprise Symphony, and Prokofiev’s fast-paced Classical Symphony. The orchestra’s own Concertmaster and Principal Oboe share the spotlight for Bach’s sublime Violin and Oboe Concerto. And the Vireo Ensemble offers an intimate glimpse into the art of chamber music.
(Series A, B)

Masterworks.3
Beethoven & Blue Jeans
Friday and Saturday, March 7 – 8, 2014
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater 

Scott Speck, conductor
Chee-Yun, violin

David Schiff : Stomp
Beethoven : Symphony no. 2
Tchaikovsky : Concerto for Violin, featuring Chee-Yun, violin

Pull on your most comfortable jeans for this program of classical firsts. The stunningly gifted violinist Chee-Yun joins the WMS for the first time, performing Tchaikovsky’s thrilling violin concerto. The orchestra tears into Beethoven’s masterful and lighthearted Second Symphony for the first time in over 25 years. And we present the West Michigan premiere of David Schiff’s infectiously delightful Stomp, based on “I Feel Good” by James Brown!
(Series A, B)

Masterworks.4
Simple Songs
Friday and Saturday, April 18 – 19, 2014
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Scott Speck, conductor
Martha Guth, soprano

Martinů : Overture
Aaron Kernis : Simple Songs, featuring Martha Guth, soprano
Mendelssohn : Symphony no. 3 – Scottish Symphony

Mendelssohn’s vigorous, atmospheric Scottish Symphony had to wait 75 years for a performance by the West Michigan Symphony. This tour de force of lilting melody and proud Celtic spirit is a joyous celebration for the entire orchestra. Soprano Martha Guth joins us for the achingly beautiful Simple Songs of Aaron Kernis. And Martinů’s Overture is a rare gem of Czech nostalgia.
(Series A, B)

Masterworks.5
Russian Rhapsody
Friday and Saturday, May 16 – 17, 2014
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Scott Speck, conductor
Yuri Rozum, piano

Tchaikovsky : Hamlet Overture
Rachmaninoff : Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, featuring Yuri Rozum, piano
Rachmaninoff : Piano Concerto no. 2, featuring Yuri Rozum, piano

The great Yuri Rozum returns with two masterpieces by Rachmaninoff: the ecstatic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the much beloved Piano Concerto no. 2. And the West Michigan Symphony presents the seldom-heard Overture to Hamlet by Tchaikovsky.
(Series A, B)

Pops.3
Music City Hitmakers
Friday and Saturday, June 6 – 7, 2014
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Scott Speck, conductor
Brett James, Hillary Lindsey & Gordie Sampson, musicians/songwriters

Nashville’s hottest songwriters share the stories behind some of the biggest hits they penned for today’s hottest Pop-Country stars including Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum, Kelly Clarkson, and Daughtry.  Selections include “It’s America,” “Coming Home” from the film Country Strong, and “There’s A Place for Us” from the last installment of the Narnia series. The Grammy Award-winning songwriters of “Jesus Take the Wheel” Brett James, Hillary Lindsey & Gordie Sampson join the West Michigan Symphony to perform 18 Billboard #1 songs they composed for some of today’s most iconic stars.
(Series A, C)

SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Vienna Boys Choir
Thursday, November 21, 2013
7:30 pm Frauenthal Theater

Vienna Boys Choir, featured performers

The West Michigan Symphony is bringing the Vienna Boys Choir back to Muskegon for a special one-night concert. Internationally renowned, the Vienna Boys Choir was created by imperial decree in 1498—and has been delighting and inspiring audiences for more than 500 years. A 24-member chorus will perform a selection drawn from their repertoire of Austrian folk songs and waltzes, classical masterpieces, beloved pop songs, holiday favorites and medieval chant.
Tickets for this special concert are not included in the full season subscription.