VSO Presents Intensity Feb. 25

The American Prize-winning Valdosta Symphony Orchestra will present “Intensity” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, in Whitehead Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now.

VALDOSTA — The American Prize-winning Valdosta Symphony Orchestra will present “Intensity” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, in Whitehead Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now.  
 
The VSO concert features violinist Tessa Lark performing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216. Guest conductor Edward Cumming will lead the VSO in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93.
 
“Several years ago, Edward came to Valdosta to conduct a memorable 'Symphonie Fantastique,' and my VSO colleagues raved about his skills and rapport with the orchestra,” said Dr. Howard Hsu, VSO music director and conductor.
 
“I knew it was time to bring him back to our stage, and this time he will be joined by violinist Tessa Lark ... she is on the rise to stardom, so we are thrilled to have her and Edward grace the stage.”
 
Lark is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Grant and won the Naumburg International Violin Competition. She performs on a 1683 “ex-Gingold” violin on generous loan from the Josef Gingold Fund for the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. She leaves for an international tour in March, which will include performances in the Netherlands.
 
Cumming is the director of orchestral activities and associate professor of music at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He was the resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and music director of the Hartford Symphony. He is the resident conductor of the Florida Orchestra and conducted a recording of the “Star Spangled Banner” featuring Whitney Houston for Super Bowl XXV. He has conducted orchestras in Spain, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Serbia, and Italy; and he has conducted ensembles throughout the United States, Asia, and Israel.
 
Tickets for Saturday’s performance are $27 for adults, $10 for students, and free for Valdosta State University music majors. Discounts are also available for senior citizens, military personnel, and VSU faculty and staff. Cumming, Lark and Hsu will take part in a pre-concert chat at 6:45 p.m. in Sawyer Theatre before the concert. The performance is sponsored by Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. 
 
Whitehead Auditorium is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building, at the intersection of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street. Free parking for this event is available in the Oak Street parking deck.
 
Visit www.valdostasymphony.org or call (229) 333-2150 to reserve tickets or learn more.
 
On the Web:
 
http://www.valdostasymphony.org/
 
http://www.tessalark.com/
 
http://www.edwardcumming.com/
 
NOTE: The Downtown Symphony Club, a social group for young and young-at-heart music lovers and professionals, will meet after the concert for food and drinks at the Salty Snapper, located at 1405 Gornto Road. Contact Dr. Shannon Lowe, principal bassoonist with the VSO, at srlowe@valdosta.edu for more information. Club members receive a discount on single tickets and the chance to meet and socialize with the soloist, conductor, and orchestra musicians, and more. Membership is free of charge.
 
About the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra
 
Created in 1990, the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra serves both the cultural life of Valdosta and the regional academic mission of Valdosta State University. The high standard of performance of the orchestra enables it to attract guest soloists of national and international renown to the Valdosta community. The orchestra's membership is a unique blend of resident artist-faculty, students studying professional music disciplines, talented community performers, and carefully selected professionals from a five-state region. Supported by an Advisory Board of Directors, the Valdosta Symphony Guild, Valdosta State University, corporate sponsors, and hundreds of individual patrons, the orchestra has become an important part of the cultural life of the entire region. Its live performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony won the 2014 American Prize in Orchestral Performance.