Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Symphony: ‘A Double Dose of Awesomeness’ on Saturday

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Dan Allcott

Dan Allcott, Oak Ridge Civic Music Association director, is pictured above.

Violinist Wei Tsun Chang and cellist Wesley Baldwin will join forces for a performance of the Brahms double concerto with the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Additional music will honor the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Wagner and Verdi with performances of La Forza Del Distino and Renzi overtures.

The concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. Tickets are available from the ORCMA office at (865) 483-5569.

Coffee Concert tonight at First Presbyterian Church

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A Coffee Concert at First Presbyterian Church this evening will feature Ilia Steinschneider and Sean Claire on violin, Eunsoon Corliss on viola, and Eunsook Jung on piano.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m., and it will feature music by Beethoven, Chopin, Sarasate, Toselli, and Mozart. It’s been organized by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association.

First Presbyterian Church is at 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

Reminder: Grammy-winning bassist Edgar Meyer plays today

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Edgar Meyer

The internationally renowned Oak Ridge bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, winner of four Grammy awards, will open the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s Chamber Music Series with a one-man concert at 7:30 p.m. today (Saturday) at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. (Submitted photo)

The internationally renowned Oak Ridge bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, winner of four Grammy awards, will open the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s Chamber Music Series with a one-man concert at 7:30 p.m. today (Saturday) at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Meyer, who grew up in Oak Ridge and graduated from Oak Ridge High School, plays a unique role in the contemporary music scene, with compositions and performances in both classical and jazz traditions, and even in some remarkable combinations of both. He was hailed by the “New Yorker” as “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the…history of his instrument.”

As a solo classical bassist, Meyer has released a concerto album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra featuring Bottesini’s “Gran Duo” with well-known violinist Joshua Bell, Meyer’s own “Double Concerto for Bass and Cello” with internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Bottesini’s “Bass Concerto No. 2,” and Meyer’s “Concerto in D for Bass.” [Read more…]

ORCMA opens season with ‘Double Dose of Awesomeness’ in October

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The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s 70th musical season, “Excellence to the Second Degree, Bringing you Music that Matters,” will offer Oak Ridgers performances from the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Series of concerts, and the Oak Ridge Chorus.

The orchestra, under the direction of conductor Dan Allcott, will open the season in October with “A Double Dose of Awesomeness” featuring music by Johannes Brahms with violinist Wei Tsun Chang and cellist Wesley Baldwin performing the Brahms’ Double Concerto. That performance will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in the performing arts center at Oak Ridge High School. [Read more…]

Nonprofit lease termination could leave vacant space in central Oak Ridge

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Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic building

Oak Ridge officials have been asked to terminate the 50-year lease on the former Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic building on Badger Road, which would leave vacant space in central Oak Ridge. City officials haven’t decided what to do with the building.

A decision to terminate a 50-year lease agreement on a building once used by a national nonprofit organization to record audiobooks for the dyslexic and visually impaired could open up some office space in central Oak Ridge.

But city officials said they haven’t decided what to do with it yet.

Now partially empty, the split-level two-story building on Badger Road was once home to Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. Located on the south side of Alvin K. Bissell Park, it still houses the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, which includes the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Oak Ridge Chorus. [Read more…]

ORCMA elects officers, appoints board members

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Carmen DeLong and Carol Plasil

Carmen DeLong, left, and Carol Plasil were recently appointed to the board of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association recently elected new officers and appointed four new board members to its organization, a press release said.

New officers are Audrey Stelson and Syd Ball, co-presidents; Richard Ward, vice president; John Gunning, treasurer; and Jerry Eddlemon, secretary.

Board members added to the organization include Carmen DeLong, Carol Plasil, Alicia Randisi-Hooker, and Mary Childress. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Chorus ends season Saturday with concert at First Baptist

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The Oak Ridge Chorus ends its season Saturday with a concert at First Baptist Church.

The Oak Ridge Chorus ends its season Saturday with a concert at First Baptist Church.

The Oak Ridge Chorus ends its season on Saturday.

Conductor Dan Allcott will introduce Seth Maples, the new Oak Ridge Chorus Director. Maples will sing a solo as well as share the conductor duties with Allcott.

The Chorus will sing Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair,” Franz Joseph’s Schubert’s “To Music,” Johannes Brahm’s “Four Gypsy Songs,” Morten Lauridsen’s “Sure on this Shining Night,” and Charles Bryan’s selections from the opera “Singin’ Billy.” [Read more…]

Arts Council has Tribute to the Arts on Thursday

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Arts Council of Oak Ridge

Arts Council of Oak Ridge

The Arts Council of Oak Ridge and its member organizations are having a premier Tribute to the Arts on Thursday.

It’s scheduled from 6-9 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

“This exciting cultural event will recognize artists and arts supporters from our area for the outstanding contributions they have made through their hearts and talents,” a press release said. “The Arts Council member organizations have long contributed to the culture and vitality of our region, and ACOR believes there is a need to acknowledge these groups and individuals for their service and talents.” [Read more…]

Final ORSO concert Saturday features Tennessee composer, soloist

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Rachel DeVore Fogarty

Rachel DeVore Fogarty

Sabrina Laney Warren

Sabrina Laney Warren

Two talented Tennessee women are playing major roles in the final Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra concert of a season devoted to showcasing Tennessee music, composers, and performers.

The women, who both live in Nashville, are Rachel DeVore Fogarty—an emerging composer, church musician and collaborative pianist—and soprano soloist Sabrina Laney Warren, who was recently lauded by a German publication for her “bell pure soprano voice.”

You can hear them, and ORSO conductor Dan Allcott, talk about the concert music at the “Dialogue with Dan” gathering at noon Friday in the lobby of the Historic Grove Theater. [Read more…]

ORCMA Chamber concert features Adaskin String Trio

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Adaskin String Trio

The Adaskin String Trio will play at Pollard Auditorium on Saturday evening in the last ORCMA Chamber Music Series concert of the season. (Submitted photo)

Submitted

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association Chamber Music Series concludes with a concert by the world-renown Adaskin String Trio, joined by members of Ensemble Schumann. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at the Pollard Auditorium.

The Adaskin String Trio’s stirring performances have thrilled audiences in the U.S. and internationally. Their playing has been hailed for “vigor, precision and stylistic certitude” (Charleston Gazette) as well as “spontaneity, intensity and charm” (Peninsula Review). The Boston Globe praised them for “directing the listener to the heart of the matter.”

The Trio members met in Montreal in 1994 where they studied chamber music with cellist Marcel Saint-Cyr. They are now based in New England, and perform extensively in the United States and Canada. They have appeared in the Merkin Concert Hall in New York and Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. This dynamic ensemble commands a wide string trio repertoire ranging from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to Dohnanyi, Rozsa, and Villa-Lobos. [Read more…]

ORCMA, ORICL benefit from John Million bequest

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John George Million Jr.

John George Million Jr. (Submitted photo)

John Million had a lifelong love affair with classical music, opera, and classic books. Before he died on March 21, 2012, he made sure that two Oak Ridge nonprofit organizations that contributed to his cultural enjoyment would benefit greatly from his legacy.

Dan Allcott, conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony and Chorus, said: “The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is honored to be the recipient of a significant bequest from the estate of John Million. The six-figure donation to ORCMA gives us stability during tough economic times.

[Read more…]

Saturday concert features music by two Tennessee composers, dulcimerist


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Stephen Seifert

Stephen Seifert

Dan Allcott has been conducting research—and two professional orchestras: the Bryan Symphony Orchestra in Cookeville and Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra.

He has been studying the life and music of composer Charles Faulkner Bryan, a native of McMinnville who died in 1955 at the young age of 44. The Cookeville orchestra is named after him.

Accompanied by ORSO, the Oak Ridge Chorus on Saturday will sing “The Bell Witch,” a cantata written by Bryan in 1947 while studying with Paul Hindemith at Yale University. The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

[Read more…]