Pirola Featured in May 7 Sundays at Three Program at Southeast’s River Campus
05/01/2017

Italian maestro, Fabio Pirola, the conductor of the St. Petersburg Russia Gubernatorsky Orchestra, will lead Southeast Missouri State University faculty and students in a concert featuring music by Italian composers of yesterday and today at 3 p.m. May 7 in the Robert F. and Gertrude L. Shuck Music Recital Hall at Southeast’s River Campus as part of the Chateau Girardeau Sundays at Three concert series. Pirola often presents “crossover” programs with his ensembles, and he just finished a run of 20 concerts in Russia which featured symphonic arrangements of popular Russian rock and pop songs. The first half of the concert features classical Italian repertoire for string orchestra and includes works by Rossini, Sammartini, Puccini and Respighi.  The second half will include works by contemporary Italian composers whose work is often featured in films and influenced by pop and tango genres. Performances will include Southeast students Amanda Nahm (violin) of Affton, Missouri; William Regan (violin) of Jefferson, City, Missouri; Abigail Sage (cello) of Fenton, Missouri; and Nick Smentkowski (bass) of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, performing “Sonata for Four No. 1 in G.” “The students are all enrolled in our chamber music course, and this is their final concert of the year,” said Dr. Brandon Christensen, professor of violin and viola. Christensen will perform in his last concert as a Southeast professor as he plans to leave Southeast to begin a Suzuki string program in his home state of Colorado.  He will be featured in the world premiere of Enrico Blatti’s “Zephryros” for solo violin and chamber orchestra. Two other world premieres will include “Reading the London Times,” composed by Marco Marzi, and “Toto Corde,” composed by Silvano Scaltritti. “This concert, my last at Southeast, is one of the most exciting projects I’ve promoted and has given our students the chance to work with a major international artist and present significant new works in a professional setting,” said Christensen. Fabio Pirola Pirola is a young, Italian conductor born in a typical Italian musical family. He has accomplished and completed his musical studies focused on opera and symphony conducting, violin and musical pedagogy at the State Conservatory “G. Donizetti” in Bergamo (Italy), at the State Conservatory “Rimsky Korsakov” in St. Petersburg (Russia) and at the Juilliard School in New York (USA). Currently, in the city of St. Petersburg in Russia, he is the artistic director and the principal conductor of the new Concord Orchestra, principal guest conductor of City Symphony Tchaikovsky, and principal guest conductor of the Russian Orchestra Severnij Gorod. In Moscow, he is principal guest conductor of the Baroque Ensemble Golden Age, and in the United States, he is principal guest conductor of the Ensign Symphony and Chorus in Seattle. He has conceived and conducted more than 50 premiere performances, collaborating with national and international orchestras in Italy, Russia, Germany, America, China and Oman with international soloists, young talents, participating in juries of competitions and festivals. His projects have always been characterized by uniqueness of the choice of repertoire and his huge repertoire considers the baroque, classical, romantic music, operas, but also pop, rock, tangos and contemporary sperimental repertoire. He is considered a full contemporary and visionary new conductor. Tickets Tickets may be purchased by contacting the River Campus Box Office, located in the Cultural Arts Center, 518 S. Fountain St., weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., by calling (573) 651-2265, or online at RiverCampus.org/featuring-southeast/.