Symphony to perform in Sylvania, Toledo

Michele Tosser, Toledo Symphony musician.

This weekend is a conductor's holiday as two Toledo Symphony concerts take place without the baton of a maestro.

The first performance is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Mozart and More Series in the Franciscan Center of Lourdes University. The program will offer three local premieres of Baroque and classical music.

As the highlight, principal oboist Kimberly Bryden Loch and second oboe Michelle Tosser Smith will share the solo spot in a performance of Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Oboes in D minor. Loch, who holds the Owens Corning Chair, has been principal with the orchestra since 1985. She is a frequent guest with orchestras in Cleveland, Detroit, and Baltimore. Her haunting sound has graced some 20 albums by Toledo area composer Tim Story.

Smith joined the Toledo Symphony in 2003 and spent the 2011-2012 season as acting second oboe with the Cleveland Orchestra.

The Mozart opener, Symphony No. 20 in D Major, was written in 1772 while the composer was still living in Salzburg. The final work, Haydn's Symphony No. 54 in G Major, dates from the mid-1770s.

The third Blade Chamber Series concert is set for 7 p.m. Sunday in the Toledo Club on 14th Street downtown. On the program will be music by Alec Wilder, Prokofiev, and Faure.

Principal hornist Sandra Clark and pianist Valrie Kantorski will perform Wilder's Sonata No. 1 for Horn and Piano, to open the evening. Following that 20th century piece will be another, Prokofiev's Two Violin Sonata, Op. 56, performed by Pamela Stuckey and Paige Kossuth.

The second half of the program will be devoted to Faure's Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, performed by concertmaster Kirk Toth, principal violist Valentin Ragusitu, principal cellist Martha Reikow, and guest pianist Frances Renzi.

Tickets are available for both concerts at 419-246-8000, www.toledosymphony.com, or at the door.

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Bowling Green State University will present a student production of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Princess Ida: or, Castle Adamant, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Conrad Choral Room at the Wolfe Center for the Arts.

Two Faculty Artist Series events will feature pianists in Bryan Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center. Robert Satterlee will appear at 3 p.m. Sunday and Solungga Fang-Tzu Liu will play at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Oboe and bassoon students from BGSU will be featured performers in the Music at the Manor House series at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wildwood Metropark.

Guest saxophonist Don Braden will join the BGSU Jazz Lab Band I for a concert directed by David Bixler at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Kobacker Hall.

Admission is free to all events.

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The University of Toledo continues its Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series with a recital and master class featuring Anthony Pattin next weekend. The master class will begin at 10 a.m. Feb. 1 and the recital starts at 3 p.m., both in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Pattin, a Toledo native who is professor emeritus at the University of Montevallo in Alabama, studied at UT and the University of Michigan. He has performed as soloist with orchestras and as recitalist around the country and in Japan.

His program will include "Three Visions" by William Grant Still, "Pictures at an Exhibition," by Modeste Mussorgsky, and works by George Gershwin and Franz Schubert.

Admission is free.

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A version of music therapy focused on working with people at the end of life is being offered by the Music for Healing and Transition Program at the University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor. The certification program prepares musicians to perform at the bedside in health care and hospice settings, providing comfort and a healing environment for the patient. For class information contact Kathy at mhtpaa@gmail.com. For further information, check the Web site at www.mhtp.org. Application deadline is Jan. 31.

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Want that special Valentine's Day gift for your loved one? You could send a lively message sung by quartets from the Voices of Harmony chorus, part of the Northwest Ohio Chapter, Barbership Harmony Society.

Singing Valentines come with a rose and personalized card, delivered in person throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Phone messages also can be sent anywhere.

In-person Valentines are $40; phone greetings are $10. To book either -- or both -- contact the group at 419-741-7464 or thevoicesofharmony@gmail.com.

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Toledo has a wonderful regional youth orchestra program through the Toledo Symphony, but high-flying musicians also can check out the Cleveland Orchestra's youth music program and even audition for a spot in the 2013-2014 season. Middle and high-school students who study privately and already participate in a school music program may schedule an audition. Ashley Smith, manager, has more information at 216-0231-7352 or coyo@clevelandorchestra.com. Audition applications are due April 5, with a fee of $25.

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A violinist and a trumpeter are the latest additions to the Toledo Symphony musician roster. Tea Prokes, a Buffalo, N.Y., native, is the newest regular player in the first violin section. A student since age 4, Prokes earned a bachelors degree in violin performance and education at Boston University and a master's at the University of Michigan. She is assistant concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and teaches privately.

Katherine Cosgrove grew up in Brookfield, Ill., outside Chicago, then studied trumpet at Indiana University while an undergraduate. She recently completed a master's degree at the U of M and has performed nationally and internationally.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of event date.