LPO Opens New Concert Season Sunday with ‘Music of the Ages’
Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall will resound to the splendid tones of Mozart and Beethoven as the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) opens its 39th concert season Sunday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m.
The season is titled, ‘Music of the Ages’ to underline the diverse genres that will be presented and generations that this music will appeal to, said Brendan Townsend, LPO director.
“The opening concert provides an example of the cross-generational programming that has won the orchestra national recognition in recent years,” Townsend said, “Opening with the overture to one of Mozart’s most famous operas, ‘Cosi fan Tutte,’ the adventurous tone is established immediately. This is followed by a work for strings by Persian-American composer Behzad Ranjbaran and off-set by two delightful works by the romantic English composer Frederich Delius.”
No major symphonic season is complete without at least one symphony by the master composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, Townsend said.
“The centerpiece of this concert is the stirring seventh symphony of Beethoven,” he said, “This work finds its opening strength from complex poetic rhythms dating back through antiquity. The exciting rhythmical drive and effervescent mood builds throughout the work and the climax so uplifts the soul that scholars and music-lovers agree it is one of the most inspiring works of all time.”
Three additional concerts will fill out the concert season and include such highlights as the musical depiction of stories from 1001 Arabian Nights, a major symphony by Johannes Brahms, and the Texas premiere of a concerto for violin and cello by renowned American composer David Amram.
In January, the orchestra will host Korean pianist Kyunghoon Kim, who was a winner of the Ben I. Gómez Prize at the Texas State Piano Festival in June. Kim has already established an international reputation and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Indiana.
Season tickets for all four concerts cost $80 with tickets for each individual concert being $25. Admission for students is free.
For more information about the Laredo Phil, visit www.laredophil.com or email laredophilharmonic@gmail.com.