Saturday, November 2, 8 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
Sunday, November 3, 2 p.m.
Augustana College's Centennial Hall, 3703 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL
In the second presentation in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's 2019-20 Masterworks season, the ensemble's thematic exploration of the human experience continues with November 2 and 3 performances of Masterworks II: Conflict, a repertoire assembled in honor of the 100th anniversary of Veteran's Day, with the program's Adler Theatre and Augustana College presentations boasting a special guest vocalist in baritone Paul Max Tipton.
Trained on full fellowship at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor, Tipton was mentored by noted mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee, tenor George Shirley, and collaborative pianist Martin Katz. He is a 2010 graduate of the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music in Oratorio & Early Music, and was made a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music in 2012. Tipton has sung with such prestigious ensembles as Atlanta's New Trinity Baroque, the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, the Colorado Bach Ensemble, Seraphic Fire, and the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, and he has enjoyed collaborations with operatic talents including Masaaki Suzuki, Matthias Pintscher, Craig Hella Johnson, Kenneth Slowik, and Leonard Slatkin.
Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as “a dignified and beautiful singer,” Tipton enjoys an active career in opera, oratorio, and chamber music, and has recorded throughout North America, Europe, China, and Korea. Tipton’s versatile repertoire ranges from Schütz and Monteverdi to Britten and Bolcom, with his interpretations of the Bach Passions particularly acclaimed for their strength and sensitivity. He has recently appeared with the symphonies of San Antonio, Grand Rapids, Lincoln, Stamford, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and has performed with the New York Philharmonic as part of their first-ever Bach Festival.
With their Conflict performances, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra musicians and music director/conductor Mark Russell Smith examine the emotional influences of war and conflict beginning with Samuel Barber’s gripping and emotional Adagio for Strings. Audiences are then invited to feel the power of human compassion when Tipton performs John Adams' melancholy, meditative The Wound-Dresser, a work inspired by Walt Whitman’s graphic and tender poem. Finally, the orchestra celebrates the perseverance of humanity in the face of adversity with Dmitri Shostakovich’s victorious Symphony No. 7: Leningrad.
Masterworks II: Conflict performances will be held at Davenport's Adler Theatre at 8 p.m. on November 2 and, in Rock Island, Augustana College's Centennial Hall at 2 p.m. on November 3. Admission is $10-65, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)322-7276 or visiting QCSO.org.
