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Posted: 1/10/19

Laredo Philharmonic Hails 2019 with ‘Romantic Storytelling’ Concert Jan. 20

 

Kuyunghoon Kim
Kyunghoon Kim  

The Laredo Philharmonic opens 2019 with its first concert of the year Sunday,  Jan. 20 at 3 p.m.at the Guadalupe and Lilia Martínez Fine Arts Center on the Laredo College campus. 

Tickets for the concert are $25 and available through the Orchestra’s website  at https://www.thelaredophil.com/tickets, or at the door Concert day. As always, students with an ID card enjoy free admission. 

This is the first of three Spring concerts and opens with the reflective “Spiral” by former Beatle musician Sir Paul McCartney, said Philharmonic music director and TAMIU faculty member Brendan Townsend.

“Former Philharmonic Board treasurer and longtime supporter of music, Jeff Jones, introduced me to an album of orchestral works by Sir Paul McCartney some years ago, and I have been waiting to find the right opportunity to include one of the works in our concerts,” said Townsend, “This unusual crossover piece by one of the world’s greatest pop music writers has Celtic overtones and a mystical quality.” 

Also on the Sunday schedule is guest soloist  Kyunghoon Kim, winner of the Ben I. Gómez Piano Competition held in San Marcos last June. He will perform Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.  A native of South Korea pursuing his doctoral degree at the University of Indiana, Kim is quickly garnering an international reputation as one of the most exciting pianists of his generation. 

“Rachmaninov’s variations on the iconic tune from Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 is a masterpiece of ingenuity, and combines exhilarating technical skills with rich Romantic tunes,”  Townsend explained.

 Closing the afternoon program is the symphonic suite Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov. It is inspired by the magical tales and adventures that kept the heroine alive in the book “1001 Nights.” Included are tales of Sinbad at Sea, the Kalander Prince, the Young Prince & Princess, and The Festival at Baghdad. The sparkling score has been thrilling audiences since its 1888 premiere.

“We are delighted to have Steve McMillan, a longtime  Philharmonic member who has performed as a soloist too – sitting in as our guest Concertmaster,” said Townsend, “concertmaster Dr. Yu-Mei Huang is on  shortterm leave, and this work needs a wonderful concertmaster to represent the heroine, Scheherazade, in the hauntingly beautiful violin solos.” 

The Philharmonic has a busy Spring looming, including an international “Day of Action” in Laredo led by world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Additional details on that historic undertaking are coming. 

For more information about the Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019 concert at LC’s  Martínez Fine Arts Center, call Angeline Townsend at 956.236.7772 or email laredophilharmonic@gmail.com.  Information is also available at the Philharmonic website at laredophil.com and on its  Facebook account.