Kent, OH — The Kent State University Orchestra continues its 2019-2020 subscription season with a concert on Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and will feature the winners of the annual student Concerto Competition. This year’s winners include undergraduate saxophone student Eric Vasquez and graduate piano student Gréta Pásztor. Graduate violist Valentina Pulido Pardo received an honorable mention.
“The level of this year’s concerto competition was quite high,” said Dr. Jungho Kim, Director of Orchestra. “I’m very much looking forward to welcoming Gréta and Eric to perform with the orchestra. They are both excellent young artists who will present energetic and exciting renditions of their respective works.”
Led by Dr. Kim, the KSU Orchestra will open the concert with Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez. Pásztor, a student of piano division coordinator Dr. Donna Lee, then joins the orchestra to perform Franz Liszt’s virtuosic and macabre “Totentanz.” Completed in 1849, “Totentanz,” translated as “Dance of Death,” is based on the Gregorian chant melody “Dies Irae.”
Vasquez, a student of saxophone professor Dr. Noa Even, then joins the KSU Orchestra string section to perform Pierre-Max Dubois’ Concerto for Alto Saxophone. The roughly 18-minute, three-movement work was composed in 1959 and is considered a staple of the classical saxophone repertoire. Then, the winds, brass and percussion rejoin the string section to conclude the concert with Igor Stravinsky's “The Firebird Suite” (1919). Considered one of Stravinsky’s most popular works, the suite is a concert version of his 1910 ballet based on Russian folklore.
A major ensemble in the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music, the orchestra will perform in Cartwright Hall at 650 Hilltop Dr. Free parking is available off of Terrace Drive in both the College of Business Administration and Cartwright Hall lots.
Tickets for this performance are available through the Performing Arts Box Office in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Dr. on the Kent Campus. Prices range from $8 to $15, including free tickets for those 18 & under as well as full-time Kent Campus undergraduates. Patrons can purchase tickets in-person Monday through Friday from 12 to 5 p.m., by calling 330-672-2787 or anytime by visiting www.kent.edu/music/buy-tickets.
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Contact for media:
Andrew Paa, Marketing Assistant
apaa@kent.edu | 330-672-0894