Sarah Pearson directing the Lee University Symphony Orchestra
The Lee University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sarah Pearson, will present its spring concert on Monday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Pangle Hall, on the corner of Central and Church streets in downtown Cleveland.
In this concerto and aria concert, the symphony orchestra will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Overture to Egmont, Op. 84” and Arturo Márquez’s “Danzón, No.2.”
“I am thrilled we can offer this concert to our campus community, local community, parents, families, and friends,” said Ms. Pearson. “Our students have worked so hard and have been preparing with incredible focus and skill. I am confident our audience will leave the concert experience not only impressed by the talent presented but moved by the power that music has in each of our lives.”
This performance will feature the student winners of the 2022 annual Concerto and Aria Competition, who are selected by a panel of Lee and community representatives. According to Ms. Pearson, the selected soloists represent some of the finest musicians in the Lee University School of Music.
The winners of the 2022 Concerto and Aria Competition are as follows with the pieces they will perform: Ashley Garner, clarinet, Claude Debussy’s “Premiere Rhapsody;” Amanda “Andie” Phillips, mezzo soprano, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Smanié Implacabili” (from Cossi Fan Tutti); Kristen Shaffer, soprano, Richard Wagner’s “Stehe Still” (No. 2 from Wesendonck Lieder); Emma Webb, piano, Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22, 1st Movement;” and Tyler Whitehead, marimba, Sergi Golovko’s “The Russian Marimba Concerto 1st Movement.”
The Lee University Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble of select instrumentalists, performs a wide variety of orchestral literature. In addition to performing one major concert each semester, its musicians frequently participate in operatic, choral, and other concerts on the campus.
Ms. Pearson’s credentials deliver solid experience in conducting, along with being a multi award-winning conductor and recognized as one of Chattanooga and Cleveland’s most talented young arts leaders.
Ms. Pearson graduated from Lee with a Master of Music in conducting. She is the music director and conductor for The Cleveland Orchestra of Tennessee, The Cleveland Pops, and is the assistant conductor for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Pearson is involved in numerous music programs and ensembles in the area and is passionate about the arts in education.
This is a free, nonticketed event, open to the public. The performance will also be available for viewing at leeu.live.
For more information about the performance or other upcoming music events, contact Lee’s School of Music at 614-8240 or email music@leeuniversity.edu.