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Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks SeriesIt gives us great pleasure to announce the ASO’s 2009-2010 Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks series and to invite you to be a part of it! You, our valued audience, are the reason we rehearse, perform, and share the world’s most beautiful music. Each of our 5 Conductor Candidates have selected programs which showcase their talent, the Orchestra and the Guest Soloist: Tchkaikovsky, Beethoven, Schumann, Grieg, and Sibelius. Retiring Maestro David Itkin "Farewll Maestro" concert concludes the season with Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" with the combined choruses of Harding University, Hendrix College, Lyon College, Quachita Baptist University and the University of Central Arkansas. We look forward to sharing the joy of music!
 OPENING NIGHT & TCHAIKOVSKYSeptember 12 & 13, 2009
Arthur Post, conductor
Karen Gomyo, violin
NIELSEN Saga Dream
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2
Our exciting season begins with a grand, romantic gesture: the beloved Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, whose ravishing beauty, graceful melodies, and dizzying virtuosity have thrilled generations of adoring audiences, and which Karen Gomyo performs it brilliantly on her rare Stradivarius violin. Arthur Post also conducts Sibelius’s most popular symphony, filled with dark-hued sonorities and expansive brass chorales.
“Ms. Gomyo is a disciplined, poised player with a commanding technique.” New York Times
“Gomyo’s big sound, excellent tone, rich lyricism and, above all, compelling authority made her performance very pleasurable.” Houston Chronicle
Video Clip | Program Notes | Order Tickets
 THE MAJESTY OF BEETHOVENOct. 17 & 18, 2009
Philip Mann, conductor
Andrew von Oeyen, piano
GLINKA Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
Without a doubt, Beethoven’s “Emperor” is one of the most imaginative, compelling, and difficult of piano concertos; but it electrifies with its majesty and grandeur. Our superstar-pianist, Andrew von Oeyen, brings elegance, muscular technique, and sheer exuberance to his performance of this iconic masterpiece. Philip Mann’s interpretation of a rousing Russian curtain raiser and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth is are sure to have you on your feet and cheering!
“Indisputable gifts [and] an extravagantly thorough and effortless technique” Los Angeles Times
Video Clip | Program Notes | Order Tickets
 BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH! November 7 & 8, 2009
George Hanson, conductor
Joshua Roman, cello
BRAHMS Tragic Overture
SCHUMANN Cello Concerto
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5
The legendary Pablo Casals declared that in Schumann’s deeply poetic and technically demanding Cello Concerto “the music is sublime.” Joshua Roman performs it with an absolute commitment to communicating the essence of the music. George Hanson leads Beethoven’s instantly recognizable Fifth, which rises from its famous four-note motif, sweeping you along its dramatic path from darkness into the light.
“A cellist of bold character and poetic grace…a masterful player who brings curiosity and electrical energy to every note.” Cleveland Plain Dealer
 GRIEG’S ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTOJan. 16 & 17, 2010
Fusao Kajima, conductor
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
VILLA-LOBOS Sinfonietta No. 1 (A memória de Mozart)
GRIEG Piano Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8
Though Grieg’s romantic concerto was written in a cold climate, its beautiful melding of virtuosity and lyricism—and echoes of Norwegian folk music—will not only melt your heart, but dazzle you, too. . . especially when it’s in the hands of our stunning soloist who has garnered raves around the world. Fusao Kajima and the ASO then present Dvořák’s beloved score, inspired by nature and overflowing with joyful melodies.
“To put it simply, Lisitsa is a gigantic talent. She has infallible fingers, imagination and a control of dynamics—from the softest to the loudest sounds—little short of electrifying. Baltimore Sun
“The technique glitters like cut glass.” Chicago Tribune
 SIBELIUS’S NORDIC SPLENDOR
Feb. 27 & 28, 2010
Andre Raphel Smith, conductor
Philippe Quint, violin
BEETHOVEN Overture to King Stephan
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1
An audience favorite for more than a century, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful combination of lyricism and virtuosity—perfect for displaying the fiery talents of our soloist. As the Daily Telegraph raved, “From the moment he takes the stage, Grammy Award-nominee violinist Philippe Quint captivates audiences with his charismatic presence.” André Raphel Smith leads Brahms’s gripping First Symphony, which begins with a dramatic pulse in the timpani and ends with bright and brilliant horn calls.
“He looked like a modern day Paganini—and he played like one, too.” The Cincinnati Enquirer
 FAREWELL, MAESTRO!April 10 & 11, 2010
David Itkin, conductor
Marie Plette, soprano
Genie Grunewald, mezzo-soprano
MAHLER Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”
A magnificent way to crown Maestro Itkin’s tenure at the ASO: Mahler’s glorious “Resurrection Symphony.” Its grand theme and range of emotions call for the joining together of extraordinary musical forces. In the stirring final movement, a hushed chorus intones the resurrection ode and solo voices soar, singing of forgiveness, divine compassion, and eternal life, promising: “You shall rise again, my heart, in an instant. And all you strived for shall carry you up to God!”
Video Clip | Program Notes | Order Tickets
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