Eastern Symphony Orchestra to Celebrate Mendelssohn

November 2, 2009

The Eastern Symphony Orchestra and East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra will join forces to pay tribute to a legendary composer with the "Mendelssohn 200th Anniversary" concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15.

The concert, which will be held in the Doudna Fine Arts Center's Dvorak Concert Hall on the Eastern Illinois University campus, will include the Eastern Symphony Orchestra (Richard Robert Rossi, conductor) performing Felix Mendelssohn's "Symphony No. 4 in A major, opus 90," also known as the "Italian."

Mendelssohn, a German composer, was born in 1809. The "Italian" symphony was inspired by his experiences during a three-year tour of Europe, as were two of his other famous works: the "Hebrides Overture" and the "Scottish Symphony."

The concert will include other composers' music, as well, with the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra (Kevin Kelly, director) performing George Frederic Handel's "Concerto Grosso in G, Op 6, No. 1," with three soloists: Hee-Jae Kim and Chelsea Edwards on violin, and Claire Liu on cello. The Youth Orchestra will also perform "The Enchanted Castle, Op. 117" by Henry Hadley.

The program will conclude with both orchestras joining forces for Mikhail Glinka's "Russlan and Ludmilla Overture," conducted by Kelly.

The Eastern Symphony Orchestra, part of the EIU Department of Music, is sponsored in part by the Charleston Area Charitable Foundation.

Tickets -- $12 for the general public, $10 for senior citizens and EIU employees, and $5 for students -- may be purchased at the door. Advance tickets are available in the Doudna Fine Arts Center box office (217-581-3110) from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or one hour before each performance. Tickets may also be reserved via e-mail at doudnatix@eiu.edu.

The Doudna Fine Arts Center, a division of EIU's College of Arts and Humanities, is located one block west of Ninth Street at Garfield Avenue in Charleston. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.eiu.edu/doudna.