Saturday, March 2, 8 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m.
Augustana College's Centennial Hall, 3703 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL
Arguably the most famous symphonic composition in world history will be showcased in thrilling style on March 2 and 3, as the Quad City Symphony Orchestra brings its latest Masterworks presentation Beethoven's 5th Symphony to Davenport's Adler Theatre and Rock Island's Augustana College, with the events also boasting special performances by premier oboe player Dr. Andrew Parker.
Parker has performed throughout the United States in some of the country's most prestigious concert halls, among them Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kimmel Center, the Long Center, and the Texas Performing Arts Center. As an avid orchestral and chamber musician, he has performed with the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra , Austin Symphony Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony Orchestra, Temple Symphony, Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, Ensemble Du Monde, and Symphony Space All-Star Orchestra, and has served as the Artistic Coordinator of the Brevard Music Center. When he lived in New Haven, Connecticut, Parker served as the Managing Director of the Yale Philharmonia at the Yale School of Music, and as an instructor, he has taught privately for numerous school districts in Texas and Connecticut, given master classes at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and Usdan Center for Performing and Visual Arts. Parker received his Bachelors of Music from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, his Masters of Music from the Yale School of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.
In the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's latest Masterworks concerts, Parker will take the lead on composer Richard Strauss' technically demanding “Oboe Concerto,” with his performance prefaced by the QCSO's rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven's stately and elegant composition Twelve German Dances. The program's impassioned conclusion will showcase the ensemble's artistry on Beethoven's world renowned tour-de-force “Symphony No. 5,” whose opening “dun dun dun du-u-u-un” refrain may compose the most famous four notes in music history. Beethoven's 5th was written between 1804 and 1808 and was first performed in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808. Despite receiving mixed reviews at the time, the piece achieved its prodigious reputation soon afterward, with German author and composer E.T.A. Hoffman describing Beethoven's creation as “one of the most important works of the time.”
The Quad City Symphony Orchestra's Beethoven's 5th Symphony performances will be held at the Adler Theatre at 8 p.m. on March 2 and at Augustana College's Centennial Hall at 2 p.m. on March 3, admission is $8-62 on Saturday and $8-39 on Sunday, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)322-7276 or visiting QCSO.org.
