Arizona Pro Arte Offers Free Student Tickets At Tempe Center For The Arts

TEMPE, Ariz. - Jan. 12, 2014 - PRLog -- Arizona Pro Arte’s Jan. 19 concert in the Tempe Center for the Arts is moving from the chamber orchestra’s traditional performance home in the Studio to the main stage in the TCA Theater. The greater seating capacity will allow parents and family members to bring young people to experience the world premiere of a new work: Christopher Norby’s (http://christophernorby.com/) “Four Ideas for Orchestra.” And to encourage an audience of all ages, APA is offering a ticket discount at the door. Young people 18 and younger will be admitted for for free with parent paying $10 per ticket – half off! ($14 for parent at the door).

This new composition by APA’s composer in residence for the 2013–14 season is one of three major works featured in a program titled “Across the Pond.” The concert brings together artists whose birthplaces and influences literally span the globe. On the podium will be guest conductor Keitaro Harada (http://kharada.com/), associate conductor of Arizona Opera. At under 30 years old, Harada has already received praise from Opera News and The New York Times, and was described by the Arizona Star as a conductor of “infectious showmanship” and “unbridled passion.”

Taking center stage with Harada and APA will be Dagmara Suchon (http://www.ladydaga.us/), violin soloist for Ralph Vaughan William’s haunting “pastoral romance for orchestra,” The Lark Ascending. Born in Poland, Suchon graduated from the Paderewski Conservatory and went on to perform as a recitalist and orchestra soloist on stages throughout Europe. Since relocating to the U.S. she has given recitals in several states and been featured with a dozen orchestras. Equally accomplished as a popular and experimental musician, “Daga” was the visionary creator behind the Space Violins, and performed on stage with Marco Antonio Solis, Goran Bregovic, and Barrage.

Norby’s “Four Ideas for Orchestra” opens the program. The composer, who was born in born in Derry, Northern Ireland, says of this piece he created for APA, “Being that this is my first concert performance in the U.S. and will have a new audience, I wanted to compose a work which brings together all of my past experience and act as a cohesive introduction to my music.” “Four Ideas” opens appropriately with a Greeting Prelude (“a musical hello,” says Norby). The second movement, Sepia, originated in Norby’s recollection of the films and film scores that allowed him to temporarily escape the stress of the civil war in his homeland. “This movement is both an homage to the golden age of film scores and a return to the more simple approach to composing I had adopted as a teenager,” he explains.

Norby says he chose a Toccata as a third movement, “a long-established musical form whose purpose is to show off the virtuosic skills of a performer.” And the closing movement, Human Counterpoint, builds a complex musical texture by pitting the individual musical “voices” of the orchestra instruments against each other.

The final work on the program is a perennial audience favorite, and one that listeners of any age will enjoy for its images of joyous folk dances and its poignant Celtic melodies: Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” — a work inspired in the composer by a walking tour of Scotland’s countryside.

“Across the Pond,” conducted by Keitaro Harada and featuring violinist Dagmara Suchon, will be presented for one performance only, Sunday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. in the Theater of the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 West Rio Salado Parkway on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake. Tickets are $20, general admission, or $17 for seniors and active duty military. Young people 18 years of age and under will be admitted for free with code “Scottish” by calling the Tempe Center for the Arts in advance at 480-350-2TCA (2822). At $1 box office fee will be charged for each ticket. Information and tickets are available at azproarte.com.

Listen to Keitaro Harada’s conversation with Sterling Beeaff on KBAQ 89.5 fm on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 6pm.