Knox-Galesburg Symphony
to Feature Pianist Ted Reuter
Galesburg, IL -- Dr. Ted Reuter, a Galesburg native and Knox College graduate, will perform as soloist with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, under the direction of Bruce Polay, on Saturday, February 27. The concert, sponsored by Knox College, will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre, Galesburg, IL.
Reuter will perform "Concerto- Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra," which was commissioned by Wartburg College from Bruce Polay, and the world premiere of "Preludes for Piano and Orchestra" composed by George Gershwin and arranged by Bruce Polay. Additionally, the Symphony will perform works by Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky.
Tickets:
Single concert ticket prices start at $8.00. This is the final opportunity to purchase the KGS special discounted 3-concert (February 27, March 27 and May 8, 1999) ticket package with rates as lows as $20.00. Children and students receive a 50% discount on all ticket purchases. For single or 3-concert ticket package information, visit the Orpheum Theatre Office, 60 South Kellogg St., Galesburg or call (309) 342-2299. special discounts are available to Knox College employees.
Other Concert-Related Activities:
At noon on Friday, February 26, Bruce Polay will host the KGS FREE concert preview in the Kensington Garden Room. The public is invited to bring a "brown bag" lunch or just come and listen to an informal preview of Saturday's program and information about the composers. A $5.00 light lunch will be available for purchase.
On Saturday, February 27, at 10:00 a.m., Dr. Reuter will host the free Music Mornings program, "Strings, Hammers, and Keys," at the Galesburg Public Library. Music Mornings, cosponsored by the Knox-Galesburg Symphony and the Galesburg Library in cooperation with the Galesburg School District 205, is a concert preview designed for children in preschool through 5th grade.
About the Program:
During the summers of 1997 and 1998, Bruce Polay composed and orchestrated "Concerto- Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra" in response to Reuter's 1995 request for a piano concerto to take on tour. Reuter, as soloist, will premiere the composition with the Waverly Symphony Orchestra on February 13 in Waverly, IA before performing it on February 27 at the KGS concert.
Saturday, February 27 will be the world premiere of Bruce Polay's orchestral accompaniment to Gershin's "Preludes for Piano and Orchestra." Polay's mission was to create a "partner" that enhances the harmonic and textural ideas in Gershwin's piece. Thus, he left the piano part intact while the orchestra aids in amplifying Gershwin's musical atmosphere.
About Dr. Ted Reuter:
Dr. Reuter is chair of the Music Department and associate professor at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where he teaches piano and related courses including music history and aesthetics. He received his B.A. degree from Knox College in 1973, studying with Dr. Murray Baylor. Reuter received his M.M. degree from the University of Illinois, and his doctorate from the University of Iowa where he studied with prominent pianist/teacher John Simms.
Reuter has extensive experience as a performer and has given solo and chamber music recitals at colleges, universities, institutes, and on artist series throughout the Midwest, Texas and Idaho. In the summer of 1995 while on a 15-day concert tour in Belarus, Reuter and clarinetist Eric Wachmann were the first North American musicians invited to perform at the Sophia Concert Hall in Polatsk, Belarus.
In May of 1997, Reuter was soloist with the Wartburg Concert Band on its European tour, playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg.
A Galesburg native, Reuter returns often to Galesburg to visit his mother Irene Reuter.
Other Works on the Program:
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 "Polish" was conceived in 1875 with the first performance in November by the Russian Musical Society under Nicholas Rubinstein in Moscow. Herman Laroche described it as "one of the greatest musical phenomena of the past decade, not -- it goes without saying -- in Russia alone, but in all Europe."
Camille Saint-Saens' Bacchanale is the most famous excerpt from the composer's "Samson and Dalila" which was his most significant opera. Saint-Saens, a child prodigy who received piano lessons at the age of two and a half, was a prolific and highly celebrated French composer.
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