NEWS RELEASE
Date: August 31, 2018
For Immediate Release
Photos Available Upon Request
Contact: Lexi Locke
Phone: 417.864.6683
Cell: 417.860.9690
lexi@springfieldmosymphony.org
Springfield Symphony features Van Cliburn Bronze Medalist at season opener
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Springfield Symphony is opening its 84th consecutive season, The Big Questions, with the classical concert, What Is The Meaning of Life?, which will feature Van Cliburn Bronze Medalist Daniel Hsu on Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on Saturday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.
“We’re about to kick off a year of really fascinating, thought-provoking, and, as always, exciting concerts,” exclaimed Kyle Wiley Pickett, music director/conductor for the Springfield Symphony. “This year is going to be full of thrilling and dramatic concerts that take on the serious Big Questions we’re looking at, as well as playful and fun concerts that look at the lighter side of life.”
There will be a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. and pre-concert music will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are currently on sale at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall box office, and can be purchased by calling (417) 836-7678 or online at www.missouristatetix.com. Ticket prices range from $10 – $40 and discounts are available for students and seniors.
“We begin our season with a concert that poses the question that philosophers, poets, artists, and writers have wrestled with for millennia—What is the meaning of life?” stated Pickett. “We’ll kick it all off with Bernstein’s sparkling “Candide” Overture, based on Voltaire’s absurd philosophical novel, and play Faure’s very romantic “Pavanne” and Liszt’s “Les Preludes,” both pieces inspired by French poets and philosophers. And finally, we get to do one of my absolute favorite things, which is to bring one of the recent winners from the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to our stage to perform with us. Daniel Hsu will play Rachmaninoff’s notoriously virtuosic Third Piano Concerto for our audience, and it will be nothing short of spectacular.”
Join Pickett at our free monthly event, Behind the Baton, at the Springfield Art Museum on Thursday, September 13th (1111 E. Brookside) for the opportunity to meet Pickett and the featured soloist and hear about the music that will be performed at the September 15th concert. The meet & greet begins at 5:15 p.m. and the program will begin at 5:45 p.m.
Pickett is available for any interviews or questions. Please feel free to email him at kwpickett@gmail.com or call at (417) 837-9422. The concert is being sponsored by Reliable Superstore, Mediacom, and Mid-West Family Marketing & Broadcasting.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and an Equal Opportunity Employer. Additional funding for all Springfield Symphony Orchestra programming is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. For more information, visit www.springfieldmosymphony.org or www.facebook.com/springfieldsymphony.
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