Two area high school musicians, chosen from Clinton Symphony Orchestra’s annual Young Artist Auditions, will appear as soloists with the orchestra on Saturday [2/24]. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in the Morrison High School Auditorium.
William Hicks, a senior at Clinton High School, will perform the Concert Piece for Bassoon and Strings by American composer Burrill Phillips. Hicks has been chosen for the Iowa All-State Band for the past two years.
Flutist Grace Rowland is a sophomore at Clinton High School, and will perform Il Pastore Svizzero (The Swiss Shepherd) by Pietro Morlacchi with the orchestra.
The Young Artist Auditions are held in January, and open to all area high school musicians. The Symphony holds the auditions to recognize and honor the many music educators in the area, and the student talent they encourage.
The orchestra will open the concert with the overture to Mozart’s last opera, The Magic Flute. Although composed in the last year of Mozart’s short life, it is an excited, forward-looking declaration of a young genius in his prime.
Following the two solo performance and intermission, the orchestra will return with Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony. Of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, only the sixth has a program of descriptive scenes annotated by the composer himself. It is often referred to as the “Pastoral” Symphony, because of its descriptive scenes from the countryside.
“A live performance is the only way to hear it in full-spectrum sound,” the Symphony’s Executive Director Robert Whipple said. “Live music is always the most engaging.”
The concert, under the direction of conductor Brian Dollinger, is one of the Symphony’s 64th season.
Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults, and all students are admitted free of charge. Tickets will be available at the door of the concert, and advance tickets are available at Tegeler Music in Clinton, Fitzgerald Pharmacy in Morrison, and Grummert’s Hardware in Sterling.
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