Masterworks I: The Illusion

October 25, 2008
October 26, 2008
Our 08/09 musical Adventure opens with Glinka’s vibrant Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture, an opera concerning knights, witches, magic and enchanted gardens. Lalo’s darkly rapturous Concerto for Cello in d minor will be the perfect vehicle for Scott Kluksdahl’s expressive virtuosity. This 19th century romantic work features Lalo’s soaring, passionate cello lines punctuated by thunderous orchestral accents. The magical Sorcerers Apprentice, made famous in the movie Fantasia, was inspired by a popular folk legend retold by Goethe. The evocative rhythms of the skeletal Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens and the dark intensity of Mussorgsky’s Night On Bald Mountain complete this dynamic opening concert!
more details …

Masterworks II: The Remembering

November 15, 2008
November 16, 2008
Aaron Copland’s hopeful, celebratory Fanfare for the Common Man opens this program, followed by Samuel Barber’s solemnly lyrical Adagio for Strings, which sets a more reflective mood for The Remembering, a concert featuring works by American composers that explore the emotional interior landscapes of our people and culture. The wonderful soprano voice of Gina Lapka is featured in Fallen Heroes, a memorial work with contemporary resonance by James Stanard scored for soprano, chorus and orchestra and set to poetry from the American Civil War. The concert concludes with the melodically cinematic Symphony No. 2 “Romantic” by Howard Hanson, an important American work, rich in arching lyricism and sweeping orchestral colors.
more details …

Philip Aaberg’s “Montana Christmas”

December 06, 2008
Montana’s own Philip Aaberg celebrates Christmas and the Holiday Season with a wonderful solo concert full of original compositions and his intimate arrangements of our most beloved traditional pieces from his Christmas CD including Montana Sleighride, What Child Is This, I Saw Three Ships, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and a host of others. Join Phil for this intimate musical portrait inspired by his love of the places and people of Montana. This will be rare opportunity to hear this fabulous pianist as he explores the many facets of his musical stylings.
more details …

Messiah and Magnificat

December 13, 2008
December 14, 2008
This inspiring program of sacred music by Bach and Handel will capture your contemplative imagination. Hear the Chamber Singers and soloists in Bach’s glorious Magnificat, with trumpets, winds, drums and strings perfectly balancing the fine polyphonic vocal writing and textural coloring of this master-piece. The second half of the program will feature Handel’s Messiah (Part 1) in Mozart’s setting for full classical orchestra, performed by the Glacier Chorale, soloists and the Glacier Symphony. Our evening of sacred music concludes with an audience sing-along reprise of the wonderful Hallelujah Chorus.
more details …

The Music Man

January 23, 2009
January 24, 2009
January 25, 2009
There has been a change of plans for this years collaborative production with the Alpine Theatre Project! Read on…...

We got trouble! Right here in River City! Join us for a modern look at this classic American musical. Slick conman, Harold Hill, turns small-town life upside down when he breezes into bucolic River City, Iowa with promises of forming a boy’s marching band. Featuring some of the most beloved songs in musical theatre including “Trouble,” “The Wells Fargo Wagon,” and “Seventy-Six Trombones.” This is the next production in our Onstage! concert series in collaboration with Alpine Theatre Project. Starring ATP’s Luke Walrath as Harold Hill and Betsi Morrison as Marian the Librarian under the baton of Maestro John Zoltek. Don’t miss this family classic!

more details …

Masterworks III: The Legend

February 21, 2009
February 22, 2009
Violinist David Halen, Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony, returns to the Glacier Symphony offering his interpretation of Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D, the composer’s masterpiece of rhapsodic invention, technical abandon and earthy energy. Richard Wagner’s powerfully melodic overture to his early opera Rienzi concerning an Italian medieval hero will introduce the concert in grand style. Tchaikovsky’s driving Symphony No. 4 in f minor, a work full of structural depth, textural variety and Russian soulfulness, will add the final spark to complete The Legend program.
more details …

A Hint of Spring – Glacier Chamber Ensemble

March 06, 2009
March 07, 2009
March 08, 2009
Join the Glacier String Quartet and invited guest soloists from the Glacier Symphony for a casually intimate evening of chamber music featuring a variety of composers and musical genres. The Friday night concert will be presented by the Eureka Performing Arts Center and tickets will be available through their outlets.
more details …

Masterworks IV: The Wings of Song

March 21, 2009
March 22, 2009
The Glacier Chorale and Chamber Singers present “The Wings of Song”, a colorful exploration of choral music from the baroque, classical, romantic, modern, musical and film repertoire. Hear great works from the Russian a cappella tradition and large masterworks by Beethoven, Bruckner, Gounod, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Verdi. The weighty first half of the program is balanced nicely by lighter selections from the film scores of Empire of the Sun, Les Choristes, We Were Soldiers and Titanic. Rossini’s Cat Duet, Cole Porter’s Find Me a Primitive Man and Victor Herbert’s I Want to Be a Prima Donna complete this musical flight.
more details …

Masterworks V: The Dream

April 26, 2009
April 27, 2009
The Dream celebrates the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn with a performance of the wonderful incidental music to Shakespeare’s immortal A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Our performance will feature narrated scenes from the play that will introduce and set the scene to Mendelssohn’s great music, from the sparkling Overture to the jubilant Wedding March and the magical, fairy-inspired Scherzo. The concert will also feature concerto excerpts performed by invited young soloists, winners from the 2009 Montana Association of Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists Competition. Prokofiev’s nuanced Classical Symphony, a modernist nod to the clarity of that musical style, will be the effervescent concert opener.
more details …

Masterworks VI: The Vision

May 16, 2009
May 17, 2009
Our spectacular season finale concert features Italian pianist Roberto Plano, recent finalist of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition. He will perform the enigmatic Piano Concerto No. 3 in c minor by Beethoven. Mr. Plano’s beautiful tone, sense of classical line and color will illuminate this masterwork. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in c# minor for large orchestra is a seminal work that charted new territory for this important composer. Mahler’s 5th Symphony stands as a monument to his large-scale musical imagination and conception, heavily influenced by Viennese elements but expanded and amplified to true Mahlerian proportions. A dynamic, passionate and muscular season finale!
more details …