THE ELMHURST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS “SEASON FINALE” MAY 12
To end another season of spectacular music-making, the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra presents its “Season Finale” at 7:00 pm on Saturday, May 12, 2012, at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church, 149 Brush Hill Rd., in Elmhurst.
Three gems of the orchestral repertoire will delight concertgoers. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture perfectly captures the windswept beauty of this Scottish isle. Prokofiev composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major as a graduation piece to showcase his own virtuosity. Rising star Inna Faliks will return to the ESO for the second time, now as one of the most in-demand pianists of her generation, to perform this dazzling work. Few pieces reflect the audacity and genius of a composer more than the Symphonie Fantastique of Berlioz. A tour-de-force for any orchestra, this work sprang from one of the most fertile of all musical imaginations.
This concert is underwritten with a generous gift from Raymond and Sally Allen Charities. Symphonie Fantastique is underwritten with a generous gift from Robert and Mary Mallon.
Concertgoers are invited to attend a full-course pre-concert buffet dinner at 5:00 pm in the Oak Room of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. Tickets are $35 per person or $65 per couple. Concert tickets are available to dinner guests at a special price of $25 each. Please make reservations no later than May 1 by calling 630-941-0202.
Called “adventurous” and “passionate” by The New Yorker and “poetic” by Time Out New York, Ukrainian-born, New York City-based pianist Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most passionately committed, exciting, and poetic artists of her generation. After her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages, with numerous orchestras, in solo appearances, and with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Keith Lockhart. Ms. Faliks has also performed numerous recitals and concerts in prestigious venues in the US and internationally, such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paris’ Salle Cortot, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, and in many important festivals. She has also been featured on radio and international television broadcasts and released an acclaimed CD, “Sound of Verse,” in 2009. Committed to innovative programming, Faliks premiered Laura Downes’ project “13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg,” has performed and recorded the unknown piano works of Russian poet Boris Pasternak, and premiered new works by Ilya Levinson and Lev “Lyova” Zhurbin. She was the winner of many prestigious competitions, including the International Pro Musicis Award of 2005.
Audience members are invited to learn more about the music at a free concert preview with Ted Hatmaker at 5:45 p.m. in the upper level Gathering Room of the church. Concert doors and the box office open at 6:15. The church is handicapped-accessible and offers 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. Purchase your tickets by visiting the ESO website www.elmhurstsymphony.org or calling the Symphony box office at (630) 941-0202. Subscriptions for the 2012-13 season, “The Power of Music,” are now on sale. “Build your own” subscription plans of three, four or five concerts offer ESO members a substantial discount over single ticket prices.
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.