Clinton Symphony Opens 66th Concert Season


Event Details


Music depicting rural settings is the focus of Clinton Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 21 in Sterling High School’s Centennial Auditorium on Miller Road at 4th Avenue. The performance will open the orchestra’s 66th concert season.

Among the music to be performed are folk dances from Eastern Europe by a European composer who migrated to America, a ballet suite by an American composer, and a depiction of the “new world” by a Czech composer teaching in America and visiting Iowa.

Bela Bartok spent considerable time visiting and collecting folk dance music in the rural areas of Eastern Europe, and the orchestra will perform a suite of characteristic Romanian Folk Dances from his pen.

American composer Aaron Copland filled several commissions of music for Martha Graham’s dance company, and the orchestra will perform a suite of music from his “Appalachian Spring,” composed in 1942. The music depicts the joy and concerns of a newly married couple in that rural setting. The Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” is prominent in the suite.

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was employed to come to America to help find a truly American style of composition. During his three years in this country, he spent a summer in the Czech village of Spillville in northeast Iowa. His experience led to the composition of his well-loved and final symphony, “From the New World.”

Conductor Brian Dollinger will lead the 55-piece orchestra to begin the season. Fund-raising for the Symphony’s Annual Fund is in progress, and season tickets and full season information will be available at the door of the concert.

Admission is $20 for adults, and all students are admitted free of charge. In addition, an adult with a student will be admitted for half-price – $10. Season tickets for the five-concert season are $75.

A charter bus from Clinton, with pick-up points in Fulton and Morrison is available for concert-goers, sponsored by Community State Bank and the Symphony. Reservations for seating on the bus may be made by calling 563-219-8084.

Full information, including the music program notes prepared by William Driver, are available on the Symphony’s website at www.clintonsymphony.org.

About Dave Vickers

Dave has been News Director since 1983 and has been Station General Manager since 1999. Dave has also served on the Board of Directors of the Iowa Broadcast News Association and the Iowa Broadcast Association and has served on the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
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