Posted January 22, 2020
DAYTON, OH (January 22, 2020) – On Friday, February 21, 2020 and Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 8:00 pm in the Mead Theatre of the Schuster Center, Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra will present the fifth concert of the 2019–2020 Masterworks Series, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff. The Masterworks Series Sponsor for the 2019-2020 Season of Titans is the Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association. Guest pianist Gavin George joins the Dayton Philharmonic for this concert as the Louis S. Cantor, Rose Sorokin Cantor, Samuel L. Cantor, and Lena Cantor Endowed Guest Artist and the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Endowed Young Classical Artist.
If ever you’ve longed for a concert to refresh your spirit, calm your soul, and envelop you with a peaceful glow, this evening grants your wish. Copland’s ballet Appalachian Spring (composed for legendary dancer Martha Graham) is quintessentially American—full of vitality, hope, and belief in the future, as a young pioneer couple starts to build their dream together. Listen for dance and fiddle tunes, and, of course, the beloved Shaker hymn-inspired “Simple Gifts.”
Young prodigy Gavin George returns to the Dayton Philharmonic for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21. Biographer Maynard Solomon memorably described the work’s slow movement: “Mozart essays an entire movement of unrelieved, time-stopping beauty…sustaining a line of overarching beauty until the distant double-bar, which is to say, for something just short of eternity.”
And finally, step into the landscape Beethoven has painted with music. His Sixth Symphony, known as his “Pastoral” Symphony, depicts all manner of birds, a babbling brook, and a terrifying storm. But before long, tranquility is restored, and—surprise!—“The Mighty Thunderer” shows us his softer side.
Tickets for Beethoven 6th and Mozart begin at $12 and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. Senior, teacher and student discounts are available at the box office. For more information or to order subscriptions, including flexible subscription types that include performances by Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Opera and Dayton Ballet, visit www.daytonperformingarts.org.
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About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the community, offering a tremendous variety of performance and education programs and setting a new standard for artistic excellence. Dayton Performing Arts Alliance performances are made possible in part by Montgomery County and Culture Works, the single largest source of community funds for the arts and culture in the Miami Valley. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance also receives partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency created to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to preserve Ohio’s cultural heritage. Funding from the Ohio Arts Council is an investment of state tax dollars that promotes economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohio residents. In 2013, The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was thrilled to be one of five performing arts organizations in the country selected to receive a three-year “Music Alive” grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance is the proud recipient of a 2017-2018 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.