Ebullient and mysterious themes permeate Masters evening of music - Oct. 3

Classic Landmarks Masters
Jubilant interplay of harmonies and rhythms in work of significant character

Brahms’Äô Second Symphony
Saturday, October 3rd ’Äì 8:00 pm

Edmonton, AB ’Ķ Your Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) continues its Classic Landmarks Masters series with a single evening of eloquent subtleties and ebullient themes at the Francis Winspear Centre for Music. Music Director William Eddins steps onto the conductor’Äôs podium to present a program of pieces that are characteristically deep in emotion.

In the title work of this concert, Symphony No. 2 in D Major bears witness to the apparent delight Brahms experienced in composing this invaluable piece of music. In what can be considered one of his most serene, contented works, an underlying drama gives this music a unique sense of character and lyrical beauty.

Acclaimed American cellist and assured soloist Julie Albers makes her ESO debut in the fiery Cello Concerto No. 2 - Dmitri Kabalevsky’Äôs finest instrumental creation. Recognized for her radiant performing style and her intense musicianship, Ms. Albers brings technical ease and interpretive poise to the ESO premiere of a mysterious and vibrant work.

Once a bass trombonist with the ESO, composer and conductor Malcolm Forsyth’Äôs bright, brilliant, and tuneful ukuZalwa opens the orchestral concert program. The title, a Zulu word meaning ’ÄúRebirth’Äù, is an exciting overture that expresses the composer’Äôs vision of joyous reconciliation in his native homeland of South Africa. Dr. Forsyth will join ESO Music Resource D.T. Baker, Saturday evening at 7:15 pm at the Symphony Prelude, to provide personal insight into his piece.

Local cellist Martin J. Kloppers will create a musical commotion as he entertains lobby guests prior to the concert, performing on his red skeleton cello. With its seamless body appears carved out of a single piece of wood, and a hollow and hole-riddled "spine’Äù section in the center from which all ribs flow, the visual and auditory result is unforgettable.

Ticket prices for this performance range from $20 ’Äì $69 (agency fees apply). Student and senior $20 rush tickets are on sale, subject to availability, two hours prior to performance time. Tickets are available through the Winspear Centre Box Office at (780) 428-1414 or online at edmontonsymphony.com.

The next performance of the Classic Landmarks Masters series takes place on Saturday, November 14th. Elegant Canadian soprano Laura Whalen brings beautiful control and precision to the Winspear Stage, joining your ESO and guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero.

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, marking its 58th season in 2009-2010, has taken its place as one of Canada's foremost orchestral ensembles. Its current roster includes 56 musicians from Canada and around the world, performing a wide-ranging repertoire from the great classical masterworks to pops and children's concerts. The presence of the orchestra and its enrichment of the community's quality of life are key elements in the stature and profile of Edmonton on the national and international scene.

Winspear Centre Box Office:
#4 Sir Winston Churchill Square
(780) 428-1414 or 1-800-563-5081
www.edmontonsymphony.com


Biographies

American cellist Julie Albers was born in 1980 to a musical family in Longmont, Colorado. She began violin studies at the age of two with her mother, switching to cello at four. She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Ms. Albers was awarded the Grand Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai, France, and as a result toured France as soloist with Orchestre symphonique de Douai.

Julie Albers made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1998, and has since performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. In 2001, she won Second Prize in Munich’Äôs Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, at which time she was also awarded the Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch 2001. In November, 2003, Ms. Albers was named the first Gold Medal Laureate of South Korea’Äôs Gyeongnam International Music Competition.

In North America, Ms. Albers has performed with many important orchestras and ensembles. Her 2009-2010 engagements include performances with the Florida Orchestra, and the Utah, Vancouver, San Diego, Memphis, Syracuse, West Virginia, Santa Rosa, Brevard, and Fairfax Symphony Orchestras. She is currently active with the Albers String Trio and the cello quartet, CELLO. Julie Albers is also on the faculty of Kean University as a member of the Concert Artist program. October, 2005 marked the release of Ms. Albers’Äô debut album on the Artek label. Julie Albers performs on a N.F. Vuillaume cello made in 1872 and makes her home in New York City.

This is Ms. Albers’Äô debut with the ESO.


Under Music Director William Eddins’Äô charismatic and energetic direction, the Edmonton Symphony has attained a level of musicianship and profile in the community it has rarely achieved. He has conducted performances in nearly every subscription series the ESO has presented, as well as a wide variety of special concerts and galas.

Bill’Äôs musical life began at age five when his parents bought a Wurlitzer Grand piano at a garage sale. He attended the Eastman School of Music, graduating at age eighteen, making him the youngest graduate in the history of the institution. He also studied conducting with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. Previous positions include a five-year tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the RTˆâ National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) and as Resident Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Bill Eddins continues to pursue many varied interests, both personally and professionally. While conducting has been his principal pursuit, he continues to perform on piano in Edmonton and elsewhere. He recently built a state of the art recording studio and has begun work on a series of chamber music recordings. He blogs regularly on insidethearts.com and has done a series of podcasts called Classical Connections available at williameddins.com.

Committed to his leadership of the ESO, Mr. Eddins accepts a limited number of guest appearances elsewhere. He led a highly-acclaimed production of Porgy and Bess for Opˆ©ra de Lyon in June 2008, which he will reprise during the summer of 2010, and most recently toured South Africa in August 2009 with the stunning soprano Renˆ©e Fleming and KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra. His latest recording, of American music for Cello and Piano, has been released on the Naxos label.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Bill currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife Jen, a clarinetist, and their two boys, Raef and Riley.