Oak Ridge Today

Rock to Bach Music Festival on March 1 at New Hope Center

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Classic Beatles and Rock to Bach Music Festival

Fifty years ago, the Beatles, the pop and rock group from England, arrived in America to perform before screaming fans. Now, one of them, Paul McCartney, composes classical music.

Imagine the Beatles walking one way as they pass Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Haydn walking in the opposite direction.

That’s the mental image you might have if you attend Oak Ridge’s fourth Rock to Bach Music Festival on Saturday, Mar. 1.

The annual festival has a new venue this year. It will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the New Hope Center of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Chamber Music concert Saturday features Cumberland Piano Trio

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The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s Chamber Series will present the Cumberland Piano Trio at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pollard Auditorium.

The trio includes Susan Eddlemon on violin, Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra Director Dan Allcott on cello, and Emi Kagawa on piano. Scott Eddlemon, ORSO percussionist, will be assisting in the performance.

Reserved seat tickets are $25 ($12 for students). For additional information, call the ORCMA office at (865) 483-5569 or visit www.orcma.org.

ORCMA concert features Cumberland Piano Trio, Japanese pianist

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Emi Kagawa

Emi Kagawa

The ORCMA Chamber Music Series continues with a concert by the very popular “home team”—The Cumberland Piano Trio—on Saturday, Feb. 8, in Oak Ridge. The Cumberland is an outgrowth of Oak Ridge’s own “Isotone” group, which has since blossomed into a regional music attraction.

This concert will feature the world-renowned pianist Emi Kagawa. A native of Osaka, Japan, Kagawa has been active as both a soloist and a chamber musician, a press release said. She has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, and Japan.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Pollard Auditorium, which is at 210 Badger Ave. in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

ORCMA holiday wreaths for sale through Wednesday

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The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is taking advance orders for holiday wreaths made from fresh evergreens.

A traditional symbol of the holiday season, the wreaths are made of Fraser Fir (Southern Balsam). Proceeds from the sale are used in ORCMA’s longstanding commitment to the funding of local music organizations.

The wreaths are made to order in sizes ranging from 14 inches to 32 inches and can be customized in larger sizes as wanted. Red or maroon velvet bows are also available by order. Prices for wreaths range from $17 to $30, and bows cost $7. [Read more…]

Grammy-winning guitar quartet to play Oak Ridge on Saturday

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Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

The Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will play in Oak Ridge on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

The Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will play Saturday evening at the New Hope Center in Oak Ridge.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the New Hope Center, which is on Scarboro Road near the front entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex. It’s part of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s Chamber Concert Series.

A press release said the guitarists consistently play to sold-out houses worldwide. [Read more…]

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.

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…]

Grammy-winning Oak Ridge bassist Edgar Meyer plays Saturday

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Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer, the world-renowned bassist and composer, will start this year’s ORCMA Chamber Music Season with a Saturday night performance.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Meyer grew up in Oak Ridge, where he learned to play the double bass when he was five. He was taught by his father, the late Edgar Meyer Sr., who directed the string orchestra program for the Oak Ridge Schools. Meyer later went on to Indiana University to study with Stuart Sankey.

“Meyer is noted for achieving virtuosity on an instrument of unusual technical difficulty, and has performed music originally composed for other instruments, such as Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites, which he recorded,” a press release said. “He has also composed a number of classical works, including two double bass concertos, a string quintet, a double concerto for bass and cello, and a violin concerto.” [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…]

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…]