Symphony to present all-Bach program

4/4/2013
BY SALLY VALLONGO
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE
 Valentin Ragusitu, violist for the TSO.
Valentin Ragusitu, violist for the TSO.

The Toledo Symphony’s final Mozart and More Series concert will bring principal conductor Stefan Sanderling to the stage of the Franciscan Center at Lourdes University at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

An all-Bach program will begin and end with music by members of the Bach family, including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sinfonia in D Major, Wq 183, No. 1 and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major.

Appearing in a solo role will be the Toledo Symphony’s principal violist Valentin Ragusitu, performing Johann Christian Bach’s Viola Concerto. Since joining the orchestra in 1999, Ragusitu has held the Blade Foundation Chair. His international honors include the 1996 Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition among other quartet contests.

Also appearing will be a four-legged creature — perhaps a Bach-ser — to solo in PDQ Bach’s Canine Cantata, “Wachet Arf” K.9, by Peter Schickele. (The soloist is to be announced.)

Healthcare REIT sponsors this series for which tickets are $30-$35 at 419-246-8000 or www.toledosymphony.com.

This program will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday in the auditorium of Winebrenner Seminary at the University of Findlay. Tickets are $10-$25 at 419-434-5335 or boxoffice@findlay.edu.

The third concert in the symphony’s Promedica Family Series is titled “The Big Dig” and will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle. Resident conductor Jeffrey Pollock will lead the orchestra in a program of music inspired by gardens.

Toledo Botanical Garden is the partner in planning this performance, geared for all ages, with informed conversation by Pollock before numbers by Victor Herbert, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Ravel, and Rimsky-Korsakov (what else? “Flight of the Bumblebee”).

Activities start at 2 p.m. in the Peristyle lobby. Tickets are $20-$25 at 419-246-8000 or www.toledosymphony.com.

Closing the Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series at the University of Toledo, pianist Frances Renzi will perform a public recital at 3 p.m. Sunday in the UT Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall. Renzi, a former faculty member and internationally renowned pianist, will play a program of music by Mozart, Debussy, and Chopin.

A master class led by Renzi is set for 10 a.m. Saturday. Both concert and class are free.

Two Guest Artist recitals are on the Bowling Green State University musical calendar this week. The Western Brass Quintet is to play at 8 p.m. Saturday in Bryan Recital Hall of Moore Musical Arts Center.

Based at Western Michigan University, the faculty quintet founded in 1966 is one of the most venerable and respected brass chamber music ensembles still active. It has performed around the world, winning many plaudits and raves.

The second visiting performer will be pianist Song Woo Kang, in performance at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Bryan Hall. Kang is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music. He blends performing, teaching, and criticism for a busy life.

Aspiring singers will flock to BGSU’s Moore Musical Arts Center for the annual Conrad Art Song Competition this weekend. The final round will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday in Donnell Theatre of the Wolfe Center for the Arts. Winners of the contest will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Music at the Manor House free recital in Wildwood Preserve Metropark.

On Sunday, winners in the BGSU Chamber Music Competition will present a free public recital at 3 p.m. in the Toledo Museum of Art Great Gallery.

His keyboard talents have made him a favorite of England’s royal family and he has performed in Wigmore Hall in London. Now, pianist Warren Mailley-Smith has crossed the Pond to engage American audiences.

He’s booked into two small-town opera houses this weekend, the better to allow northwest Ohio music lovers to experience his style and technique.

Mailley-Smith’s appearance will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Pemberville Opera House, 115 Main St., Pemberville. Tickets are $10 in advance at Beeker’s General Store, Riverbank Antiques, 419-287-4848, and at the door. Information: www.pembervilleoperahouse.org.

If you miss that event, or want to hear this young musician again, get to Otsego High School, where a second performance sponsored by the Grand Rapids Arts Council is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10 at Washer’s Laundromat, from Lynne Long, 419-832-5664, and at the door. For more information visit www.grandrapidsartscouncil.org.

Celtic Cross appears at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Tecumseh, Mich., Center for the Arts, with plenty of authentic and contemporary Irish music to go around. Tickets are $28-$30 at 517-423-6617 or www.thetca.org/performances/events.htm.

Toledo Opera will present a special preview of its Gala, Celebrate the Architects of Love, at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Conductor Sara Jobin will talk about the interesting duality which is her life: one of the few females working both in opera and a black belt level practitioner of judo. Her talk is free at the Registry Bistro in the Secor Building, 425 Jefferson Ave. A wine reception will follow, for which tickets are $15.

The Toledo Piano Teachers Association will hear Linda Smith discuss Teaching the Music of Russian Composers at its regular meeting, 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 3620 Heatherdowns Blvd. The meeting is free and public.

The Toledo Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, the International Professional Music Fraternity, will present a member concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in St. Petri Lutheran Church, 3120 South Byrne Rd. Performing will be organists Cheryle Knith, Nancy Russell, and Anne Doerfler, and pianists Barbara Foote and Gladys Rudolph. The concert is free.

Send items for News of Music to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of performance date.