The 成人头条 Symphony Orchestra will present its annual Concerto-Aria Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in Wilner Auditorium.
Mark Laycock
Five student soloists, selected by audition, will be featured in concert with the orchestra.
Violinist Marta Prugar, a graduate student from Warsaw, Poland, and a member of the 成人头条 Symphony Orchestra, will perform the first movement of Mozart鈥檚 Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major. Jordan Voth will play the finale from Beethoven鈥檚 Piano Concerto No. 5 in Eb Major (鈥淭he Emperor鈥�); he is a junior from Hesston, Kan.
Senior violinist Amy Schumann will be featured on Ralph Vaughan Williams鈥� 鈥淭he Lark Ascending.鈥� Soprano Krystal Nelson, a senior from Overland Park, will sing 鈥淧arto, parto鈥� from Mozart鈥檚 opera 鈥淟a Clemenza di Tito.鈥� Sarah Johnson will play the final movement of Jacques Ibert鈥檚 Flute Concerto; she is a graduate student in flute performance and is from Bentonville, Ark.
The orchestra will also perform the 鈥淧orgy and Bess鈥� Symphonic Picture, a medley of musical highlights from George Gershwin鈥檚 groundbreaking 1935 opera. Featuring such timeless melodies as 鈥淚t Ain鈥檛 Necessarily So,鈥� 鈥淏ess, You Is My Woman鈥� and 鈥淪ummertime,鈥� 鈥淧orgy and Bess鈥� is considered by many to be the quintessential American opera.
The concert will begin with Aaron Copland鈥檚 鈥淥ur Town,鈥� a haunting, lyrical overture based on his incidental music for the Thornton Wilder play.
Marta Prugar began her violin studies at age 7. She earned a Master of Music in violin performance and Violin Teacher Certification from the Bacewicz Academy of Music in Lodz, Poland. She also holds a Master of Music from Oklahoma City University, where she was on full scholarship and first violinist in the Polish String Quartet. Since 2005, she has performed with the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra in Texas.
While earning a music education degree at WSU, Marta has been performing with the WSU Symphony Orchestra, the 成人头条 Symphony Orchestra (WSO) and the 成人头条 Grand Opera.
As a member of the Bloomfield Graduate String Quartet she participates in a WSO program that brings classical chamber music to the public schools, performing 40 concerts yearly. Marta鈥檚 teachers include Krystyna Jurecka, Anna Wodka-Janikowska, John Arnold, John Harrison, Richard Young and Catherine Consiglio.
Jordan Voth is a piano performance and pedagogy major; he is a student of Andrew Trechak. A 2007 graduate of Hesston High School, he earned First Prize in the Andersen Concerto Series in 2006, followed by a performance with the Hutchinson Symphony Orchestra, and the 2009 Stephen V. Imbler piano scholarship.
A music education major, Krystal Nelson has been seen in multiple WSU opera productions, including 鈥淟es Dialogues des Carmelites,鈥� 鈥淟ittle Women,鈥� 鈥淭amerlano鈥� and 鈥淪treet Scene.鈥� She will also be in WSU鈥檚 March production of 鈥淟鈥檈nfant et les sortil猫ges.鈥� She is a student of Deborah Baxter.
Flutist Sarah Johnson is a first-year graduate student pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in flute performance. A student of Frances Shelly, she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from WSU in May 2009. She has been involved in many different chamber ensembles at WSU, including the Graduate Woodwind Quintet. She is a graduate teaching assistant for WSU and has an extensive private studio of flute students in the area. In July 2009, Sarah worked with Eastman professor Bonita Boyd at the Masterworks Festival in Indiana.
Amy Schumann is a senior violin performance major studying with Nancy Luttrell. She regularly performs with the Walenta String Quartet and the Vistamente Trio. Amy has attended such summer music institutes as the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians, the Brevard Music Center and the Eastern Music Festival (where she served as Principal Second Violin).
A native of 成人头条, Amy graduated from Maize High School in 2005. An accomplished trombonist, she studied with Russell Widener and served as Principal Trombonist in the KMEA All-State Orchestra.
Laycock is an associate professor of music at WSU, where he holds the Ann Walenta Faculty of Distinction Endowed Professorship. In 2007, he was recognized with the College of Fine Arts Excellence in Teaching Award.
This season, he appears as conductor with the 成人头条 Grand Opera, Opera Kansas and the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra. Laycock鈥檚 work as guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator spans 20 states, including the leadership of all-state orchestras in Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska and Washington.
For ticket information, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (316) 978-3233. The concert will also be simulcast on WSU Internet Radio ().