MUSIC
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| Lysa Choi, winner of the 2007 Suzanne Brenton Award will be the featured soloist at the opening concert of the PEI Symphony, performing Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for Violin in D Major. |
On October 19 the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra will embark upon its 41st season; a season that promises to offer Island music lovers wonderful music, accomplished soloists, and more than a few surprises. For the opening concert, Passionate Classics, violinist Lysa Choi will join the PEISO and conductor Dr. James Mark on the Mainstage of the Confederation Centre for an afternoon of orchestral music.
Each year, the PEISO sponsors the Suzanne Brenton award, which provides promising young Island musicians the opportunity to play with the orchestra. Lysa Choi, the 2007 winner, emigrated to PEI in 2006 and won the most outstanding string award at the Kiwanis Festival in the same year. After moving to Halifax to further her studies, she has continued to win awards including the Debut Atlantic’s RBC award for musical excellence. Although Ms. Choi is only 16, she has already performed at the Indian River Festival and the Music Room in Halifax. She will be performing Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for Violin in D Major, one of the best known and possibly the most technically difficult concertos for violins. Written in 1878, the concerto features both virtuoso solo sections and imaginative writing for the orchestra.
During the afternoon, the orchestra will also perform a number of other emotionally charged works. Barber’s Adagio for Strings was once voted the saddest classical work by the BBC program Today. This poetic piece has been used in films like Platoon to evoke emotion. Widely considered the unofficial American anthem of mourning, the Adagio was played at the funeral of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Written for a revival of Goethe’s play, Beethoven’s Egmont Overtures chronicles the story of the heroism of Count Egmont, who was condemned to death for taking a stand against oppression. This powerful and expressive work evokes a tragic atmosphere, builds to a tremendous climax, and ends with a jubilant fanfare, which celebrates victory over evil.
Finally, the PEISO will also perform the well-loved Haydn Symphony #94, which is nicknamed the Surprise Symphony for a dramatic and short change to the theme of the second movement.
The concert, which begins at 2:30 pm, will be preceded at 1:15 pm by pre-concert talk in the Studio Theatre. Tickets are available at the Confederation Centre of the Arts Box Office at 566-1267, toll-free at 1-800-565-0287, or online. Subscriptions for the remainder of the season will be available for sale during the intermission.