Saturday Evenings at 8 p.m. at UNCW Kenan Auditorium
Errante Anniversary
Saturday, February 11, 2012
at Kenan Auditorium on the UNCW campus
The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Board of Directors, staff and volunteers extend their grateful appreciation and gratitude to Steven Errante on the 25th Anniversary of his exemplary contributions as Conductor of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.
Sponsored by First Federal
Sponsored by WHQR-FM, Media Sponso
Steven Errante, conducting
Heather Bobeck, soprano
David Haskins, violin
Colm O’Reilly, violin
also featuring
Nancy King, soprano
Benjamin Horrell, baritone
On Saturday evening February 11th at 8:00 p.m. in Kenan Auditorium, the Wilmington Symphony presents a concert recognizing the 25th Anniversary of conductor Steven Errante’s tenure with the group. Also stepping into the solo spotlight are the winners of the annual Student Concerto Competition in performances of audience favorites.
Errante, who is also a composer, will be presenting two original works – settings of poems by William Blake for soprano, baritone, and orchestra, and his delightful Symphony No. 2. The Blake poems are drawn from the collections called “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience,” and all of them concern the themes of infancy and childhood that seemed to touch Blake so deeply. Soprano Nancy King and baritone Benjamin Horrell, both of whom perform frequently in the Wilmington area, will be joining the orchestra for these “Cradle Songs.”
Errante’s Symphony No. 2 was commissioned 23 years ago to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the founding of Wilmington. It is a traditional four-movement symphony written in a tuneful, approachable style – the composer is one who tries to communicate with his audience.
Sharing their youthful energy are the winners of the Wilmington Symphony’s 35th annual Richard R. Deas Student Concerto Competition. The competition is an event which the Wilmington Symphony provides to the region to encourage its most talented young performers.
The High School Division winner is violinist David Haskins, a senior at Hoggard High School who will be playing Max Bruch’s heartfelt Violin Concerto No. 1. In the UNCW Division, soprano Heather Bobeck will be singing the sparkling “Voices of Spring” by Waltz King Johann Strauss, Jr., and violinist Colm O’Reilly will round out the performances with the exciting finale of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto.
The February 11th performance marks another milestone as it is actually the 40th anniversary concert for our local Wilmington Symphony. Although first organized in the fall of 1971, it was not until February of 1972 that the Symphony’s inaugural concert was ready to be performed.
Conductor Steven Errante will present a concert preview for 20 minutes starting at 7:00 p.m. just prior to the concert, providing background about the program and discussion of some pre-recorded highlights of the music to be played. CLICK HERE FOR PROGRAM NOTES
David Haskins attends Hoggard High School and under the instruction of local violinist Roy Robuck he has continued to expand his musical expertise since taking up the violin as a ten year old. "I discovered my real musical passion, violin, at the end of fifth grade when I heard a live orchestra for the first time. I remember being amazed by the sound of an orchestra and I wanted to play the top voice and be heard.”
Soprano Heather Bobeck is a junior at UNCW pursuing a B.M. degree in Vocal Performance. A voice student of Nancy King, she is also a member of UNCW Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, the church choir at Little Chapel on the Boardwalk and UNCW Opera Outreach Program.
Violinist Colm O’Reilly started studying violin in London at age four. By age seven he had successfully auditioned for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain. He currently studies with Dr. Danijela Zezelj-Gualdi, and after he graduates in May, he plans to pursue his masters degree in violin performance.
Conductor Steven Errante was born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1953. At an early age he began arranging, composing and conducting for various musical groups in the Detroit area. He studied composition and conducting at the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School. In addition to his conducting duties with the Wilmington Symphony he has been a member of the UNCW Department of Music faculty since 1986. He is also founding conductor of the Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestra and accompanist for the Girls’ Choir of Wilmington.
He has also been active as a composer and arranger, his Battleship North Carolina March has been performed throughout the region by the North Carolina Symphony, and many of the guest artists performing jazz and popular music with the Wilmington Symphony have been backed up by his arrangements. More recently he was commissioned by the Wilmington Concert Association to write a new fanfare to be played by Boston Brass at the WCA’s opening concert of the 2011-2012 season.