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2016-2017 Season, Issue 3www.decaturorchestra.com

Scholarship AuditionsFriday, March 17, 3:00 – 5:00p.m. Piano, PercussionAuditions (and InstrumentalAuditions with a Saturdayschedule conflict)Saturday, March 18, 8:00 a.m.– 3:00 p.m. InstrumentalAuditions

16 instrumental private lesson scholarships and 7summer camp scholarshipswill be awarded. Auditions will be held at the Perkinson MusicBuilding on the campus of Millikin University.Applications and details are available on the website

From The PresidentShirley Swarthout

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were filled with good music and time with dearfriends, and that 2017 is off to a good start!

The new year clearly promises an exciting “second half ” for this year’s concert season.Next up in MDSO’s Masterworks series is the Feb. 4concert featuring percussion soloist Jeremy Brunk. Dr. Brunk, a member of Millikin’s music faculty since 1999, often can be spotted near the back of theorchestra behind the timpani. But on Feb. 4, he and amultitude of percussion instruments will be front andcenter, creating a variety of sounds and moods.

March 4 brings the always-popular Young Artist concert, showcasing winners of MillikinSchool of Music’s annual concerto-aria competition. These talented students have the uniqueopportunity to perform as soloists with the full MDSO orchestra. Their names and photos,along with the selections they will perform, are listed inside.

The season’s final concert is April 22, with Millikin Assistant Professor of Piano andCoordinator of Keyboard Studies Silvan Negrutiu as the featured soloist. You won’t want to missthese three Masterworks concerts! Spring semester is also prime time for the guild’s music education programs. The youth

orchestra, directed by Millikin’s Dr. Neal Smith and supported by the guild, will resume rehearsalsin late January and begin preparing for their April 23 springconcert.

Throughout second semester the guild’s educationcommittee will continue to bring professional musicians toDecatur area schools, providing students an opportunity tohear and see a wide variety of musical styles and instruments.

Annual scholarship auditions are coming up March 17-18,and now is the time for students to prepare. If you know astudent who would benefit from private lessons with a Millikinfaculty member, or from a summer camp experience, pleaseencourage him or her to apply. Application forms will soon beavailable on the guild’s web site, www.decaturorchestra.com, alongwith instructions for scheduling an audition time.

Your membership donation to the symphony guild supports theMDSO and plays a big part in making these music educationprograms possible. On behalf of your board of directors – andon behalf of Decatur-area students – thank you for yourgenerosity!

Shirley SwarthoutPresident, Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur

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2016-2017Board of DirectorsSam Kershaw, Immediate

Past-PresidentShirley Swarthout, PresidentRobert Tyler, President ElectMaya Fombelle, VP Funds

DevelopmentKay Villarreal, VP Audience

DevelopmentMary Gendry, VP Guild

DevelopmentDee Keller, VP Education

DevelopmentRuth Cortright, SecretaryJohn Benda, TreasurerPeggy Ruff, Asst. TreasurerJon French, AuditorSergey Bogza, Orchestra

ConductorDennis AdkessonLinda ArendsKarin BetzerRamona BordersDave BrandonKathy BrownKathy CrouchKim FouseTed HartleyJim KramerDon MartinCarol SudduthChristine TsigolaroffLarry Wade

Mark Your Calendars for Upcoming PerformancesMarch 4 Young Artists Concert Concertos/Arias Soloists: Emily Hill, flute; Leah Wier, piano; Tess Slack, soprano Shostakovich Symphony No. 15

April 22 Symphonic Revolutionaries Silvan Negrutiu, Piano Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 Rautavaara Cantus arcticus Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)

May 2 Lullaby Concert at the Decatur Public Library (6:00 p.m.)

Free Shuttle to Kirkland Ticketed Events!If you struggle with traveling independently due to a disability, or you’re just notcomfortable driving after dark or during inclement weather, you no longer have to missyour favorite shows at Kirkland Fine Arts Center. We have made arrangements withBaldwin Shuttle to provide round-trip shuttle service to seniors who would like to attendticketed events at Kirkland!!! All you need to do is call Baldwin Shuttle at 1-800-747-3593to reserve your seat on the mini-bus. Baldwin will pick you up at your front door, andbring you to the front patio at Kirkland. For more information, go to our web sitewww.decaturorchestra.com.

“Spring semester bringsMasterworks concerts, plus emphasis on musiceducation programs”

January 2017

Each newsletter is available atwww.decaturorchestra.comunder the News tab.

Emily Hill, a native of Decatur Illinois, graduated fromWarrensburg-Latham High School in 2015 and is currently aSophomore Music Performance major at Millikin University. Emilyparticipates in many music ensembles on and off campus. Sheperforms with the Millikin Symphonic Wind Ensemble, FluteChoir, Millikin Decatur Symphony Orchestra, and the DecaturMunicipal Band. Each summer Emily is an assistant director of theGreater Decatur Youth Band. She teaches flute lessons throughMillikin’s Preparatory Department. Emily enjoys spending timewith family in her free time.

Leah Wier has loved playing the piano since she started lessons atage 5. Raised on the family farm outside of Lacon, Illinois, Leah iscurrently a freshman at Millikin University where she studies pianowith Dr. Silvan Negrutiu and is pursuing a double major in VocalMusic Education and Piano Performance. Leah has performed inmasterclasses with pianists Mikhail Yanovitsky, Chan Kiat Lim,and Timothy Ehlen. Leah’s performance with the MDSO fulfillsone of her life-long dreams of playing with a symphony.

Tess Slack is a senior Vocal Performance major at MillikinUniversity. She is a member of Millikin Opera Theater, CollegiateChorale, and Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women. These groups havebeen essential to Tess’s positive experience at Millikin, and havefostered her growth through Millikin’s performance learningpolicy. Tess is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, which shecredits as being the definitive factor in her decision to pursueclassical music and opera as a career. Millikin has been the perfectstepping stone in this journey. Even though she will be sad to beleaving Millikin after graduation, Tess is very excited for the nextchapter of her journey in graduate school!

Masterworks IV, Young Artists and Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 | March 4, 2017, 7:30 p.m.PROGRAM

Antonio Vivaldi Flute Concerto No 3 in D major, RV 428, Il gardellino Emily Hill, flute

Joaquín Rodrigo Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios Tess Slack, soprano

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1, Op.15, Movement ILeah Wier, piano

Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141

From the PodiumDr. Sergey Bogza, Music Director and Conductor

Dear Friends,

First and foremost, I’d like to start by wishing you a Happy New Year2017, wellness, happiness, and success. I hope that you’ve been excited bythe hard work MDSO has done in programming, artistic growth, andincreasing its dedicated audience. I’ve been both moved and encouraged bythe community’s outpouring commitment, and it gives me courage towork even harder to do all that I can to move the orchestra forward. Asexciting as the first half of the season was, I believe the best is still to come.

Our February 4 concert, titled “A Voyage of Discovery: Space and FastMachines”, brings together music that looks to the future and beyond ourimagination into the Universe. This program is a reflection of mankind’s ever increasing fascination with the cosmos and innovation in today’s spaceexploration. John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine masterfully portrays arocket trying freeing itself from earth’s gravity. In Darius Milhaud’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, Jeremy Brunk plays a multitude of percussioninstruments depicting sounds of military and rainforest, creating vivid andmysterious moods. Alan Hovhaness’ evocative Meditations on Orpheus takes us to the underworld, while Gustav Holst’s masterwork The Planets takes us on ajourney through space.

Our March 4 concert will feature winners of the annual concerto/aria competition,and Dmitry Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 (his last). Regardless of how painfulShostakovich’s life was under the Soviet oppressive regime, he never lost hisconnection with youthfulness, freedom of expression, and desire for freedom. In hismusic, it is well hidden from plain sight, and at times embedded in sarcasm withpassages with double meaning where nothing is quite as it seems.

Come for the pre-concert lectures at Kirkland Fine Arts Center (6:40-7:00 p.m.) beforeevery concert for more insight and background details - you’ll be surprised what youdiscover.

See you at the symphony, Dr. Sergey Bogza

Masterworks III, A Voyage of Discovery: Space and Fast Machine | February 4, 2017, 7:30 p.m.PROGRAMAdams Short Ride in a Fast Machine

Milhaud Concerto for Percussion & Small Orchestra Jeremy Brunk, percussion soloist

Hovhaness Meditations on Orpheus

Holst The Planets

Meet Millikin’s ‘Young Artists’n n

WelcomeWe apppreciate these new members:

Conductor’s CircleJay and Mary Lou Rowley

Gold BatonJohn and Carole McClarey

Silver BatonCarol and Steve HussPriscilla PalmerDawain and Deborah Vanzant

Ivory BatonWaneta Moses

Post concert “party”Join other symphony-goers in theKirkland Lobby following theconcert for a reception, sponsoredby the Symphony Guild. And then, if you aren’t quite finishedsocializing or enjoying your evening “out”, feel free to join other concert patrons at the Bizouafter the concert February 4, 2017.No RSVP is needed. Appetizers,desserts, and drinks will beavailable for purchase from their menu. Feel free to visitwww.bizoudecatur.com for some of their offerings.

2016-17 DYSO ScheduleFriday, April 7th

St. Louis SymphonyTrip – American inParis

Sunday, April 23rd at 6:00 p.m.Spring ConcertKirkland Fine ArtsCenter

June 7th and 8th Heart of Illinois YouthSymphony FestivalUniversity of Illinois