A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

The 60^th Anniversary Season of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra

 
Led by conductor and music director Bruce Briney, the Quincy Symphony Orchestra is preparing to celebrate its 60th Anniversary.   A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE, the 2007-2008 season of orchestral and chorus concerts, will feature current and former Quincyans as soloists throughout the season.

            On Saturday, October 13 at 7:30PM in the Morrison Theatre, the season will open with GENERATIONS, featuring cellist Harriet Yount, charter member of the QSO, performing Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Brian Gehrich, and two of Mrs. Yount’s children:  oboist Marcia Yount, and bassoonist Letitia Yount Bryant.  Marcia Yount is the principal oboist of the Mexico City Philharmonic.  Ms. Bryant is the principal bassoonist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.  Brian Gehrich is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra.  Other works on the program include Brahms Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major.      

            THE AMERICAN JOURNEY Family Concert will be held at 3:00PM on Saturday, November 17 at the Morrison Theater. The concert will feature American works, beginning with two compositions by prominent American composers: George Chadwick’s Jubilee from Symphonic Sketches and Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land Suite.  The centerpiece of the performance will be Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island:  The Dream of America, a 43-minute work for actors and orchestra with projected images.  Ellis Island  includes the visual projection of historic images from the Ellis Island Immigration Museum Library, and utilizes an extraordinary combination of historical facts, music, theatre, and photography to convey the human experience of our immigrant ancestors.   More information and sound-bytes from this exciting work are available at www.propulsivemusic.com. 

The Quincy Symphony Chorus will perform the CHRISTMAS JOY CHORAL CONCERT at 7:30 PM on Saturday evening, December 8 at the First Union Congregational Church.  The concert will feature harpist Melanie Morgan accompanying the chorus on Paulus’s Three Nativity Carols and Palmer’s Come, Love We God!.  Dr. Phyllis Robertson will lead the chorus in a selection of traditional holiday favorites.  Mark your calendar early and plan to enjoy an evening of inspiring music as a bright beginning to your holiday season.

            TRADITIONS, the Annual Young Artists Concert, will be held on Sunday afternoon, February 10 at 3:00 PM.  Maestro Briney will lead the orchestra for performances by the winners of the Young Artists Competition.  In its 53rd year, the competition is open to area 10^th-12^th grade musicians.  Also on the program will be a side-by-side performance with the Quincy Area Youth Orchestra, conducted by Christine Beason.  The concert will conclude with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major.

            Come ready for some toe-tapping and finger-snapping, as the Quincy Symphony Chorus presents CELEBRATE BROADWAY! at 7:30 PM on Saturday evening, March 1, at the First Union Congregational Church.  The Chorus will perform many favorite tunes from Broadway musicals, including a variety of songs by Stephen Sondheim and George Gershwin.

The 37^th Young Peoples concerts will be performed on Friday, March 28.  These performances give area 3^rd thru 6^th graders the opportunity to experience live symphonic music in a setting just for them.  The QSO will perform DANCE REVOLUTION, featuring orchestral dance music from throughout time.  The 11:30 AM performance at Baldwin Intermediate School is free and open to the public.

A special 60^th ANNIVERSARY CHAMBER CONCERT will be performed to showcase QSO musicians past and present, and to celebrate the rich chamber music tradition of the QSO.  In the early years, chamber music was performed at most QSOA concerts, and many works were commissioned for specific instrumentalists of the orchestra.  The concert will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 701 Hampshire St., at 7:30 PM on Saturday, March 29.  Small ensembles and musicians from within the QSO and the area will perform.      

            The season will conclude with BRAHMS, BECK, & BRUCKNER, a concert dedicated to QSOA founder George Irwin.  Performances will be held on Saturday, April 19 at 7:30 PM in the Morrison Theatre and on Sunday, April 20 at 3:00 PM in the Alexander Campbell Auditorium on the campus of Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO.  First on the program will be the world premier of a new work by composer and former Quincyan Jeremy Beck.  With support from the Quincy Foundation, the work was commissioned in honor of the 60^th Anniversary of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra.  Following the Beck premier, the orchestra will be joined by the Quincy Symphony Chorus, the Culver-Stockton Collegiate Choir, and the Quincy University Concert Choir for the stunning Te Deum by Anton Bruckner.  The orchestra will conclude the program with Brahms’ extraordinary Symphony No. 1 in C Minor.  Brahms’ masterpiece, with its lyrical melodies, dramatic textures, and magnificent finale, established him as the successor to Beethoven. 

            In-depth information on the season, including program notes and soloist biographies, will be posted throughout the season on the QSOA website, www.qsoa.org.  Check back often.  Season Tickets are available now.  Single tickets will be available in advance or at the door, and children under 18 are admitted free and encouraged to attend all concerts.  Call 217-222-2856 for a brochure.

The Quincy Symphony Orchestra has grown considerably since this 1957 photo. 

The QSO is preparing to celebrate its 60^th Concert Season.