PEORIA -- The Heartland Festival Orchestra has organized, with former Peoria
Symphony Orchestra music director David Commanday as its leader.
The Journal Star has the story, including the first soloist, the great pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi.
Commanday has the contacts to bring in the best.
And there's more. The group behind this new orchestra envisions something that may save classical music for the future. It will involve only highly skilled musicians, along with multi-media events and innovative programming.
Heartland initially wanted to use Northwoods Community Church as a venue for the performances. That auditorium has a good multi-media setup, an organizer said.
But that idea fell through -- wonder why! (Hint -- keep asking!)
So Heartland found a new venue, at least for the first performance on Aug. 28, Five Points Center in nearby Washington. With Antonio Pompa-Baldi. For only $27.
Using community facilities cuts the high cost of the Peoria Civic Center, which arts groups have complained about.
Heartland also will be less expensive than the pricey Peoria Symphony, and more exciting and new. Though the Heartland organizers deny it, the new Festival Orchestra most likely will compete with the Peoria Symphony for audience members and support.
The Peoria Symphony board fired Commanday last winter even though more than 900 people signed petitions asking the board to keep him. For details see stories under Peoria Symphony category.
Who knew classical music could be so dramatic!
So -- goodbye to our great but expensive center seats tied to our season tickets to the Peoria Symphony. Someone else can stumble over the other audience members in the CC theater with no center isle. Goodbye to parking expenses, too. We'll be attending Commanday's group.
-- Elaine Hopkins
7/12/09: Here is the news release from the Heartland Festival Orchestra:
Heartland Festival Orchestra Launches
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 7, 2009
On June 25, 2009, the Heartland Festival Orchestra was founded by a group of musicians and community supporters who shared a vision of an entirely new element in the musical life of our region -- a chamber orchestra of the highest quality.
The Heartland Festival Orchestra is created to perform the finest repertoire for chamber orchestra, and is dedicated to serving Peoria and the extended communities of Central Illinois with musical excellence, innovation, and imagination. Recruiting the finest among the region's professional musicians, its performances will vary in musical styles and periods, ensemble size, and venue. Concerts will challenge the stereotypes of classical music performance, inviting audiences to participate in an informal, spontaneous, and interactive experience, incorporating other arts and media when appropriate.
An additional key element of the HFO's mission is to partner with local, regional, and national charitable organizations in order that they may share in the outreach and financial benefit of our concerts.
The founding members and musicians of the HFO are also proud to announce that David Commanday has agreed to be Artistic Director and Conductor.
Said musician spokesperson Amy Gilreath:
"As musicians, we have always felt this community needed a world-class, professional chamber orchestra. We love the intimacy and flexibility that a chamber orchestra provides along with the challenges it brings to our technique and musicianship. Additionally, we have longed to be a part of the creative force in a professional organization; contributing the expertise that we have acquired with lifelong professional training and dedication. We are very excited at the prospect of realizing these goals with this top-quality ensemble in collaboration with Maestro Commanday."
David Commanday offered the following statement:
"It gives me great pleasure to salute the creation of the Heartland Festival Orchestra, and to acknowledge with gratitude my designation as its founding Artistic Director and Conductor. This will be for me a welcome opportunity to make music with my long-time friends and colleagues, the finest players of the region, and to thank the community of music lovers who have demonstrated such loyalty and support. It will be our mission to make great music, and in so doing also to benefit the charitable institutions which serve our community with such distinction."
The HFO's inaugural performance will be August 28, 2009, at Five Points Washington Caterpillar Performing Arts Center in Washington, Illinois, at 7:30 p.m. The program is entitled "Favorites and Friends", and will include works by Mozart, Rossini, and Tchaikovsky. Antonio Pompa-Baldi will be our very special guest soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K.488.
In keeping with our mission, a portion of the proceeds from the concert will be donated to our charity partner for this event, The Children's Home. The Children’s Home has been caring for the children in our community for well over 140 years. Operating from five locations in the Peoria area, their professional staff, of approximately 450, are committed to community-based, family-focused programs that provide counseling, education and support to nearly 1,000 children each month. Programs for children and youth include: residential care, group homes, foster care and adoption, supervised independent living, private school, crisis intervention, mental health assessment, homeless services, in-home counseling and family preservation.
Four additional concerts will follow this season, whose dates, locations, and partnering charities are soon to be announced.
Tickets can be purchased for the Inaugural August 28 concert on line starting July 9 at www.fivepointswashington.org, by calling 444-8222, or in person at Kidder Music. Tickets are $27 for adults and $7 for children and students. To learn more about the mission of the Heartland Festival Orchestra and for information on how you can contribute and participate in our efforts please visit us online at www.heartlandfestivalorchestra.org .
For further information contact Sea Stipe; sstipe@heartlandfestivalorchestra.org , 309/691-0010 or 309/361-8098.
Note: for tickets hit the website, www.fivepointswashington.org. There's no fee, you can pick out your seat, and you can immediately print out your e-ticket. Very slick and efficient, and likely to save thousands of dollars in ticket handling costs for this new group.
Comments