The Southeast Missouri Symphony will present a symphonic pops concert titled Symphonic Pops with Symphonic Stars on Tuesday, March 10, at Southeast Missouri State Universitys River Campus.
The concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall and will feature thrilling orchestral music for film and stage by iconic composers John Williams and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Also included on the concert will be the stellar talents of the winners of this years Concerto and Aria and Rising Star Competitions: Jake White, piano, and Phillip Hammond, violin.
We are tremendously excited to present this Symphonic Pops concert in March, said Dr. Sara Edgerton, conductor of the Southeast Missouri Symphony. The music is so much fun to play and to listen to, and there is also tremendous variety on the program! From the soulful and majestic Apollo 13 music, to the rock-inspired Phantom of the Opera, to the amazing young soloists who will be performing with us, we expect this to be a tremendous evening of music.
And we are especially thrilled to perform some extended selections of music by John Williams, Edgerton said. Everyone will immediately recognize the famous Star Wars tunes, played by our fantastic symphony orchestra. This is definitely the concert you dont want to miss this season!
The concert will open with music from Apollo 13, a 1995 American film that dramatized the 1970 Apollo 13 attempted mission to land on Mars and the courage and tenacity of the crew to successfully return to Earth after the Apollo 13 craft loses power and the mission is abandoned. Apollo 13 was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two, including Best Sound. The film score was highly praised, and some of the memorable tunes are presented in this orchestral arrangement.
The next two selections on the concert will feature the winners of this years Concerto and Aria and Rising Star Competitions. White, a sophomore music major from Cape Girardeau, will join the orchestra for a performance of the first movement of Camille Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2. This concerto is a beautiful representation of French Romanticism, and it is particularly noted for its extended, virtuosic piano writing. White is pursuing a vocal Bachelor of Music Education with an emphasis in piano at Southeast. A student of Department of Music Chair Dr. Kevin Hampton, White also teaches through the Southeast Missouri Music Academy, performs frequently as a collaborative pianist and has won numerous awards as a soloist. The first half of the concert will conclude with another work by Saint-Saens — the popular Violin Concerto No. 3, first movement. This brilliant work will be performed by Rising Star Competition winner, Hammond of Bloomington, Indiana. Hammond has recently performed in Argentina and Chile, has won several very prestigious awards, and has been featured on the nationally acclaimed radio program, From the Top (February 2020).
The second half of the concert will feature exciting selections from some of the most enthralling music composed for stage and film. Selections from Andrew Lloyd Webbers dramatic Phantom of the Opera will be performed; music from the Star Trek series will be presented; and a number of memorable tunes by John Williams will be included. Some highlights will be music from Schindlers List, with soloist Sophia Han; and a number of selections from the Star Wars films. Also on the second half of the program, faculty member Kevin Tague will play a short, exciting piece for trumpet and orchestra by the Russian composer Alexander Goedicke.
Tickets
Tickets for the concert are now on sale and can be purchased by visiting the River Campus Box Office during normal office hours, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, by calling (573) 651-2265 or by visiting RiverCampus.org.