The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Youth Orchestras continue their 2014/15 season on Monday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. at Brainerd Baptist Church with a concert performed by the CSOYO Symphony with Gary Wilkes conducting, featuring An American in Paris by George Gershwin and Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin.
Review for the concert:
Gershwin’s orchestral masterpiece, featured in the MGM movie of the same title, takes us musically through the streets and shops of Paris as American tourists gawk and take in the wonderful sights, from the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre (listen for the French taxi horns). Borodin’s wonderful dances from his opera Prince Igor are still delightful to listeners today. It is Russian music at its best with beautiful exotic melodies and powerful rhythms.
The CSOYO Philharmonic, conducted by Sandy Morris, will open the concert with a variety of delightful works, featuring several musical selections by John Williams from the Star Wars movies. Also featured on the program are the third place winners for the 2014 CSOYO Concerto Competition: Josh Wallin and Monte Coulter.
Program
CSOYO Philharmonic
VAUGHAN WILLIAMs Overture to The Wasps
SMITH By Loch and Mountain
WILLIAMS Main Theme from Star Wars
Suite from The Star Wars Epic-Part I
The Empire Strikes Back
CSOYO Symphony
GERSHWIN An American in Paris Suite
KROMMER Concerto for Two Clarinets, Op. 35 – 1st Movement
Josh Wallin and Monte Coulter, soloists
BORODIN Polovtsian Dances
This will be a “penny performance.” All children and students accompanied by a (paying) adult may attend for one penny each. Regular admission is $6 for adults, $4 for children, students, and seniors. Call 267-9011 for more information.
Josh Wallin has been a member of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony for four years. He is a senior at Ringgold High School and has served many leadership positions in the band program, such as section leader and band captain. He has played with the Georgia District Seven Honor Band for seven years and the Georgia All-State Band for four years. In the summer of 2013, Josh was selected as one of three high school clarinetists to attend the Georgia Governor's Honors Program. Throughout high school, he has played in masterclasses for artists David Schifrin, Oscar Espina-Ruiz, and Jose Franch-Ballester. Other honors include performing onstage with the United States Navy Band, and playing as a member of the Chattanooga Clarinet Choir at the International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest 2014 in Baton Rouge, LA. After high school, Josh plans to major in Music Composition and go on to teach composition and theory.
Monte Coulter IV is a senior at the Chattanooga School of Arts and Sciences, where is he principal clarinetist with the Symphonic Band, and is currently in his third season with the CSO Youth Orchestras. His earliest musical experiences were as a soprano in the Chattanooga Boys Choir, and he sang the Role of Amahl in the 2010 and 2011 Chattanooga Symphony and Opera productions of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” at the Tivoli Theater with Bob Bernhardt conducting. As a clarinetist, Monte is a three-time All-State musician in Tennessee, earning the first chair in East Tennessee for the past 2 years. As a recipient of PAL scholarships, Monte studied at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in 2013 (Rob Patterson) and 2014 (Chad Burrow). He was selected to perform in Master classes with Jose Franch-Ballester (2014) and Anthony McGill (2015). He performs in the Chattanooga Clarinet Choir alongside his teacher, Nick Hartline. Monte lives in Harrison with his parents Monte and Monica Coulter, and his Labrador, Luke.