Robert Bernhardt conducts the Lee University Symphony Orchestra
Lee University’s Symphony Orchestra will hold its fall concert on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Pangle Hall.
Robert Bernhardt, artist-in-residence, will conduct the program, while faculty guests Jonathan Jung, piano, and Charlotte Kies, clarinet, will perform with the orchestra.
“We’re excited to present two great overtures alongside solos from our faculty guests,” said Maestro Bernhardt. “We look forward to sharing this evening’s music with all in attendance.”
The concert will include music from Brahms and Rossini, while the faculty soloists will perform Rachmaninoff and Mozart.
According to Mr. Bernhardt, Brahms composed the buoyant “Academic Festival Overture” as a gesture of gratitude to the University of Breslau in Germany, which awarded Brahms an honorary doctorate. The piece was a favorite among students when it premiered at the university, as Brahms borrowed and used student drinking song melodies throughout the overture.
Rossini’s “William Tell” was his 39th and last opera, and its overture is among the most famous and popular pieces of classical music ever written, according to Mr. Bernhardt.
The work is divided into four distinct parts, including a chorale prelude for low strings featuring cellos, a storm sequence that is “among the most famous in music,” the calm after the storm highlighted by a duet between flute and English horn, and the “rescue finale” made popular as the theme music for television’s “The Lone Ranger.”
Dr. Jung will perform Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2,” which was an instant success following its first performance in 1901 and became part of the standard repertoire from that day. Ms. Kies will play the first movement of Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto,” which was composed just two months before Mozart’s death and is beloved for its profound beauty and sunny disposition, according to Mr. Bernhardt.
Maestro Bernhardt joined Lee’s faculty in the spring of 2011. He also serves as Music Director Emeritus and Principal Pops Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and Principal Pops Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra and Grands Rapids Symphony. He was formerly the music director and conductor for 19 seasons with CSO, and he is the first to hold the title Emeritus. He is also a frequent guest conductor for the Boston Pops and Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Jung joined the faculty of Lee’s School of Music as an assistant professor of piano in the fall of 2017. He previously taught at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and Jones County Junior College. In addition to teaching, Dr. Jung performs regularly across the United States. He has performed with the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra and Korean Philharmonic Orchestra of New Zealand.
Ms. Kies is a clarinetist based in Chattanooga. She joined the Lee University School of Music faculty in 2017 and is a member of the Ohio Light Opera Orchestra. She was recently named the 2017 Second Prize Winner in the International Clarinet Association's Orchestral Audition Competition.
The Symphony Orchestra is an ensemble of select instrumentalists, which performs one major concert each semester. Its musicians frequently participate in opera, choral, and other concerts on campus.
The concert is a free, non-ticketed event, and is open to the public.
For more information, call 614-8240 or email music@leeuniversity.edu.