March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 48 F

Angela Cheng joins ASO for opening night

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Annapolis Symphony OrchestraThe pyrotechnics will be strictly musical when Canadian pianist Angela Cheng joins the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (ASO) for the first concerts of the 2014-15 season entitled “Opening Night Fireworks.”  On October 17 and 18, Music Director José-Luis Novo will lead the orchestra’s first performances in the newly renovated auditorium at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

These Lexus Classic Series concerts beginning at 8:00pm each evening will be preceded at 5:30pm by a gala Opening Night Celebration and followed by a champagne and dessert reception.  Tickets for the concert and the party are on sale online at www.annapolissymphony.org , by calling 410-263-0907 or in person at the ASO’s office 801 Chase Street, Annapolis, MD 21401.

First on the program is Music for the Royal Fireworks by George Frideric Händel followed by Manuel de Falla’s impressionistic tone poem Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Angela Cheng as soloist.  After the intermission the concerts will conclude with Symphony No. 4 “The Inextinguishable” by Denmark’s greatest composer Carl Nielsen.

Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty and superb musicianship, Ms. Cheng is one of her country’s national treasurers.  In addition to regular guest appearances with Canadian orchestras, she has performed with many of the leading American ensembles.  She was a Gold Medalist in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition as well as the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition.

During the 2014-15 season, Maestro Novo and the ASO will present “Music of the Great War,” and both Nights in the Gardens of Spain and “The Inextinguishable” symphony are products of the period 1914 – 1918.  Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s piece for orchestra and piano soloist depicts three gardens and incorporates elements of Andalusian regional folk music.  The orchestral writing is lush and the piano part is elaborate, brilliant and eloquent, but rarely dominates.

Composed in 1916 against the backdrop of the First World War, Symphony No. 4 is among the most dramatic works by Danish composer Carl Nielsen.  Featuring a battle between two sets of timpani, the name does not apply to the symphony itself, but rather to “that which is inextinguishable,” which Nielsen refers to as “the elemental will to live.”

The ASO’s inaugural Opening Night Celebration consists of a pre-concert cocktail party and a post-concert champagne reception under a festively decorated tent in front of Maryland Hall.  Patrons will enter on a red carpet to enjoy bountiful gourmet hors d’oeuvres including an oyster bar.  Guests will also enjoy a liquor infused tea-bar courtesy of Capital Teas and a celebration-themed signature cocktail by Lexus.

The party will begin at 5:30pm, on both Friday October 17 and Saturday October 18.  A trumpet fanfare will call the audience into the concert hall at 8:00pm for a program titled “Opening Night Fireworks.”  Following the concert, guests will return to a lounge-style reception to enjoy champagne, tea cocktails, desserts, and the opportunity to mingle with Maestro Novo, Angela Cheng and members of the orchestra.

In addition to the Baltimore/Annapolis Lexus Dealers, corporate sponsors for the Opening Night Celebration include PNC Wealth Management, Baldwin, Kagan & Gormley, One North Wealth Services, M&T Bank/Wilmington Trust, Fidelity Investments, West Annapolis Family Dentistry and Rockwell Collins.  Media sponsors include Comcast and What’s Up? Media.

Guests may choose to attend either Friday or Saturday night, and concert tickets must be purchased separately.  Attire for the evening is “black tie optional.”  Event tickets are $150 per person.  Concert tickets range in price from $35 to $60 and $10 per seat for students.  Tickets are available online at www.annapolissymphony.org, by calling the ASO at 410-263-0907 or by visiting the office in Room 204 at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

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