Published Sunday, August 22, 2010 12:05 AM

Symphony focuses on 'Local Connections'

By Tom Turbiville

Part of living in a college-driven community is a natural adaptation to a college-driven calendar. When A&M and Blinn classes start, so does just about everything else.

And so it is with the arts as season schedules are announced, tickets go on sale and curtains rise.

The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra's 2010-11 season line-up has been announced with the emphasis on local folks who have made good and are coming home to show off.

The season is dedicated to the memory of Florence Ham, the long-time symphony and local arts supporter who died in January. In her honor, the season's theme is "Local Connections," featuring guest artists and composers with Brazos Valley ties who have graced bigger stages, including the grandest of New York and Chicago.

"This season, we decided to showcase the wealth of talent that in some way is directly or indirectly associated with the BVSO or with the community," said Symphony music director and conductor Marcelo Bussiki. "Therefore, in each program we will include one or more works that refer back to us or our community.

"The music that we will make this season will take us from Mozart to newly commissioned works, from classical, to pops, to educational programs. We are also proud to feature some of our principal players as guest artists this season. These artists are just a few of the wonderfully talented musicians that we have in our orchestra."

This subscription season has another outstanding line-up, all to be staged on the Texas A&M campus: four at Rudder Theatre and the one I'll call the blockbuster, Carmen, at the larger Rudder Auditorium.

Carmen will be performed Nov. 14 and will feature two A&M Consolidated High School alums: New York Metropolitan Opera stars Sasha Cooke and Emily Pulley.

Here's a summary of the upcoming Brazos Valley Symphony season:

* New World Symphony, 5 p.m. Oct. 3, Rudder Theatre. Program: Mozart, Overture to Le nozze di Figaro; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466, D minor, featuring pianist Kathryn Woodard; Dvorak, Symphony No. 9, op. 95, E minor.

* Carmen, 5 p.m. Nov. 14, Rudder Auditorium. Program: Bizet, Carmen (concert version). Featuring Brazos Valley Chorale, Texas A&M Century Singers and Brenham Children's Chorus.

Full Cast: Cooke as Carmen, Pulley as Micaela, Daniel Snyder as Don Jose, Kelly Markgraf as Escamillo, Jennifer Wise as Frasquita, Phillip Hill as Morales/ Zuniga, Maureen Papovich as Mercedes, Casey Papovich as Le Dancaire, Chris Hoffman as Le Remendado, Greg Wise as Narrator.

* World Premiere, 5 p.m. Feb. 20, Rudder Theatre. Program: Grant Still, Danzas de Panama for Strings; Ewazen, Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra, featuring Sarah Burke on the marimba; Moross, Concerto for Flute with String Orchestra, featuring Penny Zent on the flute; Ward, Concerto for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra; World Premiere BVSO Commission featuring Rob Clearfield on piano, Jeff Greene on bass, Quin Kirchner on drums and Greg Ward II on saxophone.

* Classical Masters, 5 p.m. March 6, Rudder Theatre. Program: Bach, Ricercare from Musical Offering; Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 3, op. 37, C minor, featuring Sahun Hong on piano; Brahms, Symphony No. 3, op. 90, F major.

* Rhapsody in Blue, 5 p.m. April 10, Rudder Theatre. Program: Halsell, Symphony No. 1; Hanna, Piano Concerto, featuring Trent Hanna on piano; Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue, featuring Hanna; Tchaikovsky, Capriccio Italien, op. 45.

"I think that this season will be as thrilling as live music can be and offer our community the opportunity to hear quality symphonic classical music here in the Brazos Valley," Bussiki said. "This is a great time for more community members to become involved with the Symphony. We invite many more to appreciate world-class music-making in Bryan-College Station."

In addition to the subscription concerts, BVSO will present the Sanctuary Choir of Christ United Methodist Church and the Brenham Children's Chorus for a Holiday Brass & Organ Spectacular on Dec. 12 at Christ United Methodist Church in College Station.

Tickets for the five-show subscription season as well as the holiday concert can be purchased at www.bvso.org or by phone at 696-6100 through Sept. 17. A full season ticket is $135 for adults and $55 for students, and a $10 processing fee is added to each order.

Individual tickets are available through the MSC Box Office, at 845-1234 or online at boxoffice.tamu.edu.

Chamber concerts

The beginning of the Community Chamber Concert season is just about five weeks away. This season features six performances: three in the fall and three in the spring.

The season starts Sept. 30 with pianist Philippe Bianconi at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. The remaining five concerts will be at First Presbyterian Church, 1100 Carter Creek Parkway in Bryan.

"All of our concerts are free to the public," said Paul Parrish. "They all include an opportunity to meet with the artists afterward; and they all include a separate outreach event to the community."

For example, Parrish said, Bianconi will conduct a Master Class from 4-6 p.m. Sept. 29 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station.

The series also includes: Oct. 21, Carpe Diem String Quartet; Nov. 29, Indigo Trio; Feb. 15, Red Priest; March 10, Italian Saxophone Quartet; and April 12, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen. All concerts start at 7:30 p.m.

Chorale tryouts

So you think you can sing? How about trying out to be a member of the Brazos Valley Chorale?

Auditions will be Saturday at Peace Lutheran Church, 2201 Rio Grande Blvd. in College Station. All singers must call 776-1776 to schedule an audition.

Save the date

* Sunday: Last day of "The Culture of Wine," Bush museum, noon-5 p.m. (691-4000, bushlibrary.tamu.edu)

* Monday-Aug. 30: Spirit of Texas Bank Gallery, BV Arts Council, BV Arts League present "Oil Paintings by Kiki Curry" (696-2787, acbv.org)

* Aug. 26-Dec. 1: Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History presents "Raramuri: Runners of the Sierra Madre," (brazosvalleymuseum.org, 776-2195)

* Tom Turbiville is The Eagle's arts columnist. He's also sports director for WTAW-1620AM Radio. E-mail him at tom.turbiville@ theeagle.com.

---

Notice about comments: Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here. The Eagle is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friend's recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality, and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up!.