Oak Ridge Today

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)

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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.

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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.

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ORCMA Coffee Concert features violin, piano, voice

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“A Night of Violin, Vocal, and Piano Music” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge.

This first free coffee concert of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association season will feature violinist John Michael Fox, tenor singer George Deaton, and pianist Pam Robertson.

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Pipe organ featured at Oak Ridge Symphony concert

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Malcolm Matthews

Malcolm Matthews

The pipe organ will be the featured instrument at the Feb. 2 Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra concert at First United Methodist Church.

Conducted by Maestro Dan Allcott, ORSO will perform “Incidental Music to L’Orfeo” by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and “Elegy” by Elliott Cook Carter (1908-2010).

ORSO will join guest artist Malcolm Matthews, Knoxville native and 2012 American Guild of Organists National Young Artist finalist, in performing the “Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings in G Minor” by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963).

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See Oak Ridge mayor play at Rock to Bach Music Festival

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Ridge City Ramblers

Members of the Ridge City Ramblers, who will play at the Rock to Bach Music Festival, are, from left, Gary Coleman, Mary Tuskan, Scott Linn, Abbie Hoerner, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and Steve Reddick. (Submitted photo)

Not every city has a mayor who plays a banjo in a band.

Oak Ridge does.

Mayor Tom Beehan and five other musicians are members of The Ridge City Ramblers. The band will perform at Oak Ridge’s third Rock to Bach Music Festival on Jan. 26 at the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Pollard Auditorium.

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Klezmer band part of Rock to Bach Music Festival Jan. 26

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Dor L'Dor Klezmer Band

Members of the Dor L’Dor Klezmer Band are, from left, Wes Lunsford, Jon Walton, Joe Christian, Jeff Ramey, Ken Brown, Steve Brown, Rachel Brown, and Susan Shorr Brown. (Submitted photo)

One of the groups that will perform at the third Oak Ridge Rock to Bach Music Festival on Saturday, Jan. 26, at Pollard Auditorium is the Dor L’Dor Klezmer Band.

“Your father would love us,” said band member Ken Brown. “But we’re not your father’s klezmer band.”

The band features a singer and eight other performers on three trombones, clarinet, mandolin, piano, bass, and drums. The group plays jazz, waltzes, and slow dancing tunes, as well as klezmer music (including a klezmerized version of “Stars and Stripes Forever”).

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Rock to Bach Music Festival returns to Oak Ridge Jan. 26

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Rock to Bach Music FestivalImagine Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms walking one way as they pass the Beatles walking in the other direction.

That’s the mental image you might have if you attend Oak Ridge’s third Rock to Bach Music Festival on Saturday, Jan. 26, at Pollard Auditorium.

“Rock to Bach” is an all-day music festival presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association as a benefit for ORCMA music organizations, such as the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

More than a dozen groups will perform rock, pop, blues, bluegrass, folk, jazz, gospel, Big Band, swing, klezmer, and classical music.

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Oak Ridge music association receives Tennessee arts grant

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The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association recently received a $20,800 grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission for the 2012-13 season.

The money is being used to help support Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus concerts, which can cost $10,000 apiece.

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ORCMA holiday wreaths for sale

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Holiday Wreath

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is again 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 long-standing commitment to the funding of local music organizations, a press release said.

The wreaths are made-to-order in sizes ranging from 14 inches to 32 inches, and in custom larger sizes as requested. Red or maroon velvet bows are also available by order. Prices for wreaths range from $17 to $30 and bows cost $7, the release said.

And, as in years past, people who would like to give a fresh wreath with a bow to a needy family through Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties can order one or more, and the Oak Ridge Chorus will deliver them to ADFAC for distribution.

Wreaths must be ordered by Wednesday, Nov. 21, and must be picked up on Saturday, Dec. 8, between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge. The First Presbyterian Church is located on the southeast corner of Lafayette Drive and Oak Ridge Turnpike. The wreaths will be in the Fellowship Hall.

Call Priscilla McKenney at (865) 482-5374 or Barbara Weber at (865) 463-8269 to order wreaths and bows, or to ask questions.

Oak Ridge Symphony presents Veterans Day concert Sunday

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John Becker

John Becker

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will present a Veterans Day concert on Sunday in Maryville.

World War II veterans will be admitted free, and all other veterans can enjoy the concert at a reduced price, a press release said.

John Becker, WBIR news anchor, will narrate “The Greatest Generation” by Greg Danner, a composer from Cookeville, Tenn. Since April 2008, Becker has produced the TV series “Service and Sacrifice” on the lives of East Tennessee veterans.

ORSO will open the concert with “The Star Spangled Banner” (lyrics by Francis Scott Key and melody by John Stafford Smith) and close it with Morton Gould’s “American Salute” and Robert Lowden’s “Armed Forces Salute.”

The Oak Ridge Chorus, accompanied by ORSO, will sing Randall Thompson’s “Frostiana,” which provides a choral setting for seven poems by Robert Frost (1874-1963). These poems take a nostalgic look at New England country life.

The chorus and orchestra also will play John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen” (from the movie “Saving Private Ryan”).

 The theme of the concert is “American Celebration,” and the theme of the season is “Tennessee Sounds Good to Me” in celebration of Tennessee composers and performers.

The concert starts at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Clayton Center for the Arts at Maryville College, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $25 (adult), $10 (college students 19 years or older, with ID), and $5 (students 18 years and younger).

Schedule, ticket and concert information, as well as driving directions to Maryville College, are available on the ORCMA website at www.orcma.org. To renew a season subscription or become a new subscriber at a discount, call the ORCMA office at (865) 483-5569.

Award-winning string quartet plays Saturday

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Tesla Quartet

The Tesla Quartet will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

The award-winning Tesla Quartet will play at Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The quartet will perform Gyorgy Ligeti’s “Andante and Allegretto” and Carter Pann’s “String Quartet No. 1: Love Letters.”

Korean-born clarinetist Wonkak Kim, a music faculty member at Tennessee Tech University, will join the quartet to play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and Strings.”

It’s the second concert of the season in the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s 2012-13 Chamber Music Series. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

ORCMA said the young quartet won a gold medal at the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and third prize in the 2012 London International String Quartet Competition. A quartet-in-residence at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the group has performed in Austria, Canada, and England, as well as the United States.

The quartet formed at the Juilliard School in 2008, quickly establishing itself as one of the most promising young ensembles in New York, the press release said. Quartet members are violinists Ross Snyder and Michelle Lie, violist Megan Mason, and cellist Kimberly Patterson.

Wonkak Kim

Clarinetist Wonkak Kim, a faculty member at Tennessee Tech University, will play with the Tesla Quartet at Pollard Auditorium on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

The Tesla Quartet’s performances have been praised as “technically superb,” “full of urgency, color and subtle dynamics,” and as “a master class in quartet technique,” the release said.

It said Kim has captivated audiences around the globe. He has received praise from reviewers for “excellent breath control and fine command of his instrument,” “lyrical musicality and supple tone,” and “impressive range.” Since his solo debut in 2007 with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, Kim has performed in hundreds of venues on four continents.

The Tennessee Arts Commission is a co-sponsor of this and other ORCMA Chamber Series concerts.

For ticket information, visit the ORCMA website at www.orcma.org or call the ORCMA office at (865) 483-5569. A reserved seat ticket costs $25 ($12 for students).

Becky Ball’s program notes for the concert are on the ORCMA website, and the Tesla’s website is www.teslaquartet.com.