How to go
What: “Musical Everest”
Where: Clark State Performing Arts Center, Kuss Auditorium, 300 S. Fountain Ave., Springfield
When: 8 p.m. next Saturday, April 18
Admission: $28-$48 adults, $12-$36 for students. A limited number of seats are available the week of the concert at only $15 adults/$10 students.
More info: 937-325-8100 or go to www.springfieldsym.com
Adventurers want to scale Mount Everest to challenge its heights. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra wants to use musical scales to reach its own musical Everest.
More than 100 musicians and 200 singers will take on Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 2” in the third MasterWorks concert of the season, “Musical Everest,” at 8 p.m. next Saturday, April 18, at the Clark State Performing Arts Center.
“Because of the technical, musical and logistical demands, it’s often referred to as a musical Mount Everest,” said Maestro Peter Stafford Wilson, Symphony music director and conductor of “Symphony No. 2.” “With perhaps the largest assembly of artists ever on the Kuss Auditorium stage, this is an event not to be missed.”
Mahler took five years to write his symphony, focusing on his vision of the afterlife and the soul’s resurrection. He further distinguished it by adding a chorus in the final movement, which complements the many stringed instruments.
The Symphony will be joined by guest soprano Elise DesChamps, who last performed here during the 2013 performance of “Carmen,” and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Arraya, who is also a cellist for the Orchestra and will display both her vocal and instrumental talents at the concert.
“We’re delighted to have singers from all over Springfield as a part of this,” said Wilson. These will include the Springfield Symphony Chorale, under the direction of Basil Fett, and the Wittenberg Chorale among others.
The evening will begin with the Opening Notes pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m. in the Turner Studio Theater, led by Christopher Purdy of WOSU Classical. Also at 7:15, a performance prelude in the lobby will feature the Springfield Children’s Chorus, under the direction of Jennifer Wightman.
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