River City Repertory Theatre, Shreveport Symphony and Shreveport Opera collaborate with a Broadway Musical evening 5-5-2012

Kermit Poling, Associate Conductor of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and Steve Aiken, Executive Director of the Shreveport Opera chat during Saturday evening's intermission.










Kermit Poling and singer/actress Dina Bennet

my husband Harold Rogers with  his former dance partner from Ballet Lyrique, Dina Bennet

soprano Dr. Gale Odom - Centenary College of Music

The combined choirs of Cypress Baptist and First Baptist Churches of Bossier City present "Hymns Revived" with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra

Hymns Revived, a selection of old time gospel hymns arranged and/or written and orchestrated by composer Philip T. Wade, Music Director at Cypress Baptist Church, was presented Sunday evening April 22, 2012 at Cypress Baptist Church by The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the combined choirs and soloists of Cypress Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Bossier City.

Having been born into a musical family I cut my teeth listening to old time gospel music, symphonic music on the radio (there was no TV then) and the latest in the Your Hit Parade favorites with The Andrews Sisters, The McGuire Sisters, The Ames Brothers. I have fond and loving memories of the many churches in which I sang both here and in the Dallas/Ft Worth area with my two sisters (and occasionally my brother as he grew older) as the Whipple Sisters with my mom at the piano as we belted out songs like Give Me That Old Time Religion and Amazing Grace in churches or revival tents filled with folks who clapped and sang along with us.

I congratulate all those involved in this presentation today with my special thanks to Mr. Philip Wade for his inspired orchestrations. 

Cypress Baptist Church Music Minister Philip Wade

electric bassist - Steve Singletary

Beginning rehearsal

Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the 3 Wideman Piano Competition finalists bring music to your Heart and Soul Saturday, February 25 at Riverview Theatre - 7:30 PM

Three Concerti, two by Rachmaninoff and a third by Prokofiev, are the choices for this year's Wideman Piano Competition Finalists - all-time favorites on anyone's list of classical piano music although the Prokofiev is less known.

Guest Conductor David In-Jae Cho will be on the podium to conduct the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra for the event which features three extremely talented young pianists. From what I heard and saw on-stage at last evening's first rehearsal from my position in the back of the orchestra in the Horn section, which BTW, has a marvelous view of  soloists and conductor, we are in for an audio and visual treat. An on-stage camera will highlight close-up views of each of the candidates' piano work and, (yes), on occasion orchestra members and conductor.

David In-Jae Cho - Newly appointed Music Director of the Lubbock Symphony

Finalists are:

Yejin Noh – RACHMANINOFF - Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 

(update) Bronze medal winner

 XiXi Zhou – PROKOFIEV - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16

(update) Silver medal winner

Intermission

                         Yue Chu – RACHMANINOFF - Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

(update) Gold medal winner

                                              Concert time 7:30 PM - Pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM


                                          Tickets are available at 318-222-TUNE

          --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos of the finalists

Kermit Poling interviews the finalists while the judges convene in the decision making process

Yue Chu,Yejin Noh, Xi Xi Zhou, Kermit Poling

                                                                                The judges have made their decision        

 

Guild members are ready to make the medal presentations

Lester Senter Wilson, Executive. Director of the Wideman Competition, and Carl Pendley of Pendley Piano Gallery will announce each winner and present the certificate

Bronze Medal Winner Yejin Noh

Silver Medal Winner Xi Xi Zhou with Lester Wilson

Gold Medal presented to Yue Chu by Margaret Shehee

Medal winners and judges with Lester Senter Wilson

Guest Conductor David In-Jae Cho and his wife

Great job, Maestro

Carl Pendley and Kermit Poling

Steinway Pianos furnished for the competition by Pendley Piano Gallery

SSO Brass Duo entertains students at Mooretown Elementary Wednesday Nov 9, 2011

SSO Principal Trumpet Rick Rowell and I (the SSO Brass Duo) played movie music, a little jazz and ragtime and demonstrated our orchestra instruments to several classes of exuberant and enthusiastic students at Mooretown Elementary School yesterday afternoon. We were welcomed warmly by students and faculty who treated us to smiling faces, questions about our instruments and the orchestra and requests for ticket information.

The SSO ensembles will present several performances in the elementary schools this season as part of its educational outreach programs.

Photos of the Brass Duo performances provided by Mooretown Elm and edited by sjwr

Introductions by the Mooretown staff

Demonstrating the history of the development of the Trumpet and the Horn

demonstrating the various mutes we use to change the sound of our instruments

Questions and answers about our instruments, the orchestra, ourselves, how we learned to play

more photos available

The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra presents "A Pair of 5's" Feb 5, 2011

Shostakovich and Beethoven 5th symphonies will raise the roof of the Riverview Theatre this Saturday night, Feb. 5th., when the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of its Music Director Michael Butterman presents its fourth Masterwork concert of the season.

Concert begins at 7:30 PM

with pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM

by SSO 'cellist Paul Christopher

Tickets are available by phone and online

318.227.8863

or

www.shreveportsymphony.com

ticket prices $12.00 - $42.00

Come join us

                                                                                                                        

BLUE is for COLD
rehearsals in the convention hall next door
for Beethoven and Shostakovich 5

the theatre was too cold for three days

a little cool even in convention hall so I brought a hat next rehearsal
and some hot cocoa

And by Saturday morning's dress rehearsal (which thankfully was in the theatre) I felt as though I should have brought my sled so my horn and I could toboggan down the ramp to the stage entrance. Which would I have saved first, had we crashed and burned in front of the trash cans? My horn or my life? Good question.

Shreveport Symphony presents MW 3 January 8, 2011 - Go for the GOLD

This Saturday evening The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, Michael Butterman Music Director, presents the three finalists from the 2010 Wideman Piano Competition held this past December. The Competition is held annually in Shreveport at Centenary's Hurley School of Music. Lester Senter Wilson is the Director.

The competition finale accompanied by the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra will be held at FBC, Shreveport, Saturday December 8, 7:30 PM and tickets can be purchased online or at The Symphony offices downtown. SSO Music Director Michael Butterman will be conducting. Compositions will be Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 in CM, Chopin Concerto No.1 in Em and the Saint-Saens concerto No.2 in Gm

www.shreveportsymphony.com

Finalists are

Ko-Eun Lee - Saints-Saens

Jannie Sing-Yen Lo - Prokofiev

Soyeon Park - Chopin

If you love piano music and the sounds of your symphony orchestra, we hope to see you there where you can also vote for your favorite pianist.

NEWSFLASH 

update

The Gold Medal winner of the 2010 Nena Wideman Piano Competition is Ko-Eun Lee who played the Saint-Saen Piano Concerto No. 2 in Gm.

After Concert audience chat with the the three finalists and SSO Music Director Michael Butterman

while awaiting vote tabulation


Ko-Eun Lee - the Gold Medal winner

Soyeon Park - Silver medalist

Jannie Sing-Yen Lo - Bronze Medal winner

An eager audience awaiting the vote tabulation after the concert participates in a question and answer series for the three contestants narrated by Michael Butterman

And the question is "How do you prepare for memorization of your music?"

Other questions were:

At what age did you begin taking piano lessons?
How many hours a day do you practice?
How do you like Shreveport?
What are you thinking about when you play the music?
Does the music make you think of anything in particular?
What would you like to do with your life?

SSO Music Director Michael Butterman



I apologize for the lack of photos of the Wideman Competition's Director Lester Senter Wilson whom I have known since the early 1970's, but my camera battery died and although a friend of mine who also has a Nikon offered to lend me one of her extra batteries, alas the batteries were not compatible.

Photo of me taken at the first intermission by my friend Galina who has graciously consented to my posting a few of her photos from the concert (the ones I missed)! Look for more photos this week of the Wideman winners.

Photos by Galina with editing by sjwr

Dan

Jason

Wideman competition judge Santiago Rodriguez
whom I first met when he played with the SSO in 1971. He is a former Wideman and Van Cliburn competition winner

Lester Senter Wilson with the winners of the 2010 Wideman Competition

Shreveport Symphony Orchestra plays Mahler and Barber Saturday 11-13-2010

We are finally back in the saddle again. (Must be my Texas roots peeking out from under a big cottonwood tree.) With Maestro Michael Butterman once again on the podium and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra musicians on stage after three years of prolonged contract negotiations, what better way to say "We're Baaaaaaaack." than to celebrate the official start of the 2010-2011 season with two well-known and talented contemporary composers, Gustav Mahler and Samuel Barber.

Join us Saturday night November 13, 7:30 PM at Riverview Theatre downtown on the riverfront for Barber's Adagio for Strings, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 featuring soprano Mary Wilson and after intermission Mahler's Symphony No. 1, The Titan.

As I mentioned on my FB page, if you love the sound of HORNS, you'll get to see and hear 8 of them tomorrow night. and we're ALL back.

Just add 3 more and you've got yourself one huge Horn section

And don't forget the Brass, the Strings, the Winds and the Percussion sections

L-R Craig Pratt, Susan W Rogers, James Boldin, Angela Bagnetto-Finley, Jeff Taylor, Kristine Coreil, Tom Hundemer, Judy Causey

The SSO Mahler Horn section

photo by Prin. Tbn Dr. Mike Davidson, editing by sjwr

SSO Principal Horn Tom Hundemer with former Principal Viola Nancy Headlee

SSO Second Horn Susan W Rogers with former SSO violist Debbie Stille photo by Chad Causey, editing by sjwr

Packing up the Contra after the concert

SSO Bassoonist/Contra Bassoonist Janelle Ott

 Is that mine? Better get busy Pac-Man

Long time friend and SSO violinist Rosemary Hatch

who stayed overnight with us Sunday night before flying out Monday morning

hubby Harold



Rosemary helping us trim our tree early - we have a house full of family guests staying with us Thanksgiving week-end, so an early start is a MUST

LOOKING GOOD, Rosemary!! Easier than Mahler!

Enjoy the Tiger Sauce!!

www.shreveportsymphony.com