UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO OPEN CONCERT SEASON OCT. 24

Southeast's University Symphony Orchestra will open its concert season Oct. 24 with a program of symphonic masterworks, to be presented in Academic Auditorium on the University campus.

The concert, scheduled for 8 p.m., will include music by Dvorak, Bernstein, and Copland, and will feature guest conductor Dr. Jordan Tang, artistic director of the Paducah (Ky.) and Jackson (Tenn.) Symphony Orchestras as the conductor for the concert.

The program will open with the Symphony No. 8 by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. Composed in 1889, its melodies are simple and song-like, and the texture is transparent and light. Dvorak's biographer, Karel Hoffmeister, summed up the symphony: "It is a simple lyric, singing of the beauty of our country for the heart's consolation." Composed just four years before Dvorak's "New World" Symphony, the Eighth Symphony has remained one of Dvorak's most popular and most often performed compositions.

From Dvorak to Berstein

The second half of the program will feature 20th century music by American composers. The great American composer, conductor, pianist, and advocate for music, Leonard Bernstein, has left an indelible stamp on the American musical scene. With a wealth of compositions embracing many styles and approaches, and an enormous legacy of outstanding recordings and broadcasts as conductor, pianist, and educator, Bernstein has made classical music accessible to millions of Americans. His popular musical, "West Side Story," was composed in 1957. The freshness and vitality of its musical themes has been captured in several concert arrangements of the music. The University Symphony Orchestra will perform the popular Jack Mason arrangement of "West Side Story" for full symphonic orchestra.

The concert will conclude with a salute to another major American composer, Aaron Copland. Drawing on American themes and folk tunes, he developed a style that is rhythmically vital and melodically engaging. His ballet "Rodeo," composed in 1942, drew on American folk tunes for its material. The concert version of "Rodeo" has been popular amongst concert audiences for decades; the "Hoe Down" movement, which incorporates a fiddler's tune, is especially memorable. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Copland's birth, and the University Symphony Orchestra will commemorate this milestone with this performance of one of Copland's best known compositions.

The University Symphony Orchestra will be conducted for this concert by guest conductor, Dr. Jordan Tang. Well known in this region for his outstanding direction of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Tang returns to Academic Auditorium for this performance with the University Symphony Orchestra. Tang has guest conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nashville, Memphis, Kansas City, and other orchestras, and has had his compositions performed throughout the world.

The concert is open to the public. Tickets are available at the door and will be $5 for general admission and $3 for students and senior citizens. Admission is free with a valid University I.D. For more information, please contact the Department of Music at 573-651-2141.