DC/Baltimore area classical music fans...

The Columbia Orchestra will present Sibelius’ First Symphony on Saturday, January 10, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake High School, 5460 Trumpeter Road, in Columbia, Maryland. This second Classical Concert of the orchestra’s 31st season includes a diverse program by Franz Joseph Haydn, Joan Tower, and Jean Sibelius.

The concert will open with Franz Joseph Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, featuring Music Director Jason Love and three of the orchestra’s principal players as soloists. Oboist Lindsey Spear, bassoonist Monica DeLeon, violinist Brenda Anna, and cellist Love will present one of Haydn’s most beautiful and elegant works.

Part meditation on America, the Beautiful, the second work was jointly commissioned by orchestras throughout the United States. Made in America is a modern masterpiece by Joan Tower, one of our nation’s most respected living composers.

The major work for the evening is Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1. Finnish composer Sibelius, whose famous Finlandia remains one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire, maintains a lyrical, Romantic approach throughout his First Symphony. Written in 1898, it remains in stark contrast to the divergent 20th century styles of the next decades.

Prior to the performance, Howard Community College faculty member Bill Scanlan Murphy will discuss the lives and works of the composers in a free “Prelude” discussion at 6:30 p.m. Murphy’s personal insights into the lives of the composers and their music, his presentation of “not-in-the-textbook” tidbits, and his witty humor are guaranteed to whet the audience’s appetite for the main course to follow. This Prelude series is sponsored by Baltimore-Washington Financial Advisors.

Tickets may be purchased at the door, although credit cards cannot be processed the day of the concert. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors over 60, and $10 for full-time students. For further information or directions, call (410) 465-8777 or visit the orchestra’s website: http://www.columbiaorchestra.com .

Hope to see you there!

http//www.columbiaorchestra.org