Hannah Holman performs in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's Masterworks II: “Fit for a King" -- November 5 and 6.
Saturday, November 5, 7:30 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
Sunday, November 6, 2 p.m.
Augustana College's Centennial Hall, 3703 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL
With the musicians' latest repertoire showcasing an eclectic quintet of composers ranging from classical maestro Johann Strauss Jr. to jazz legend Duke Ellington, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra continues their 2022-23 Masterworks season with Fit for a King, the concert's November 5 and 6 performances at Davenport's Adler Theatre and Augustana College's Centennial Hall featuring exhilarating solos by Hannah Holman on cello and Benjamin Coelho on bassoon.
In this concert event rich with musical royalty, Fit for a King opens with This concert rich with Ellington’s jazz and gospel-influenced Three Black Kings. The QCSO's principal cellist Holman will then captivate crowds with the arresting and haunting cello soliloquies of Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo, the final work of his "Jewish Cycle." The King of Rock and Roll’s signature sound will prove alive and well in Michael Daugherty’s Dead Elvis, a composition that will showcase the gifts of the QCSO's principal bassoonist Coelho. Following the Presley homage, the ensemble will offer a toast to friendship with Strauss' stately Emperor Waltz, ultimately concluding the Masterworks II repertoire with William Walton’s intense and cinematic Henry V Suite.
An active chamber musician, Schelomo soloist Holman studied at the Eastman School of Music and Michigan State University, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree, and obtained her Master of Music Degree with Fritz Magg at the New England Conservatory. A founding member of the Beaumont Piano Trio, which performed around the United States and England, Holman was also a founding member of Quadrivinium, a music ensemble-in-residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. From 2002 to 2011, she was a member of the Maia Quartet, the University of Iowa's quartet-in-residence, which toured China, Japan, and throughout the United States, including teaching residencies at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Great Wall International Music Academy in China, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. Holman regularly performs in chamber ensembles with musicians from throughout the United States, and Fanfare magazine raved that “her tone and technique are the stuff that cello legends are made of.”
Dead Elvis soloist Coelho, meanwhile, has appeared as an orchestral musician, teacher, and clinician in several countries including the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Portugal, France, Romania, Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Brazil's Gramado Woodwind Quintet and Contemporary Music Group of Minas Geraiss, as well as New York's Alaria Chamber Ensemble. As a founding member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet, Coelho performed numerous recitals and concert tours throughout the United States, while his group won various chamber music competitions including Artists International, Coleman, and Monterey Peninsula Chamber Music Competition. Among the numerous ensembles Coelho has performed with, several are located in the Midwest, and beyond his tenure with the QCSO, the bassoonist has played alongside the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony, Indiana's Bloomington Pops Orchestra, and Iowa City's and Orchestra Iowa.
Masterworks II: Fit for a King performances will be held at Davenport's Adler Theatre on November 5 at 7:30 p.m., and, in Rock Island, at Augustana College's Centennial Hall on November 6 at 2 p.m. One hour prior to each performance, concert-goers are invited to attend informational "Concert Conversations" to learn about the works on the program, and admission to the concert events is $10-65. For more information and tickets, call (563)322-0931 and visit QCSO.org.
