THE ELMHURST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS “BAROQUE AND CLASSICAL GEMS WITH KATINKA KLEIJN OF THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY” JANUARY 14 AND 15

 

Join the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Stephen Alltop as they present the third subscription program of the season, a mid-winter offering of Baroque and Classical gems featuring Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Katinka Kleijn.  The concerts will take place at 7:00 pm on Saturday, January 14, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st Street in Oak Brook, and at 3:00 pm on Sunday, January 15, at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church, 149 W. Brush Hill Rd. in Elmhurst.

 

Kleijn will play Haydn’s brilliant Cello Concerto in C.  Complementing “Papa” Haydn’s sparkling Symphony No. 57 will be the elegant Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major of Bach and Handel’s charming Organ Concerto that imitates the cuckoo and the nightingale, and features Stephen Alltop as organ soloist.

 Katinka Kleijn’s solo credits include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Youth Concerts, the Hague Philharmonic Orchestra, and numerous local symphony orchestras. Kleijn has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, on the Ravinia Festival’s Rising Star Series, and with chamber groups and in recital throughout the country.

An avid chamber musician, she has partnered with pianists Christoph Eschenbach and Richard Goode, as well as cellist Lynn Harrell, and she joined the Chicago Chamber Musicians in 2006. As a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Kleijn toured Poland and Mexico and performed the American premiere of Zona at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. She regularly performs on the CSO’s MusicNOW series. Her May 2007 American premiere of Eternal Escape by Dai Fujikura was described by John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune as “a five-minute tour de force, played with wonderfully incisive bravado.” Her 2003 recording of David Baker’s Cello Concerto with the Chicago Sinfonietta on the Cedille label won rave reviews.

Kleijn regularly performs in a variety of styles. She is a member of the Greg Ward Sextet, the guitar-cello duo Relax Your Ears, and the progressive rock metal band District 97.  To seek support for her younger colleagues, Kleijn founded the Holland-America Music Society in 1999 and launched the annual HAMS Competition for strings, distinguished by its first prize award—the full-time use of a fine contemporary Dutch instrument and a CD.

After winning the Dutch Princess Christina Competition at age 16, Kleijn studied with Laurence Lesser and Lynn Harrell before joining the Chicago Symphony in 1995.

The works performed at this concert are generously underwritten by gifts from Raita Vilnins, Keith and Irmgard Olson, and Jan Vanek in memory of Erika Vilnins.

As part of its service to the community the ESO encourages those attending the concert to bring a food item for the Yorkfield Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.  Details on preferred items can be found at eypc.org/Foodpantry.html

 

To help support the ESO, patrons are invited to Eat & Earn at Cafe Amano on Thursday, January 19, 2012.  Cafe Amano will donate 15% of the check to the ESO when diners present their ticket stub or a flyer, available on the web site under the outings and events tab at www.elmhurstsymphony.org.

 

Elmhurst concertgoers are invited to learn more about the music at a free concert preview with Ted Hatmaker on Sunday, January 15, at 1:45 p.m. in the upper level Gathering Room of the church.  Concert doors and the box office open at 2:15.  Both venues are handicapped-accessible and offer free parking.

 

Tickets cost $31 for adults, $7 for students. Discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more are $25 per ticket.  A single concert family ticket for $65 will admit two adults and up to three students.  Subscriptions at a significant discount from single ticket prices are still available.  Purchase your tickets by visiting the ESO web site www.elmhurstsymphony.org or calling the Symphony box office at (630) 941-0202. 

 

 This concert is made possible in part by grants from the City of Elmhurst Tourism Fund, the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency), Superior Ambulance, Suburban Bank and Trust, and the Auxiliary of the Elmhurst Symphony Association.