April 10, 2024 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[STEVENS POINT, WI] – The Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to present RUSSIAN MASTERS, the final concert of their 75th Season, on April 13 and 14 at Sentry Theater. Saturday’s performance will be at 7:30 pm and Sunday’s will be at 4:00 pm. This concert features a world premiere of a piece composed by CWSO Musician Keith Dom Powell entitled “Melting Pot/Melting Point Overture." It will also feature “Cello Concerto No. 1” by Shostakovich performed by an accomplished guest artist Christine Lamprea on Cello, “Symphony No. 4” by Tchaikovsky, an audience-voted mystery piece, which is “Finale from William Tell Overture” by Rossini.
Christine Lamprea, Cellist and Sphinx Medal of Excellence winner is an artist known for her emotionally committed and intense performances. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in 2013, and has since returned to Carnegie, the Kennedy Center, as well as performed with orchestras such Costa Rica National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, National Symphony of Michoacan, New Jersey Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and toured with the Sphinx Virtuosi across the U.S. Ms. Lamprea is on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. She studied with Bonnie Hampton at The Juilliard School and holds a master's degree from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Natasha Brofsky.
Keith Dom Powell, principal horn, received a B.A. in horn performance from Stony Brook University, NY, and an M.Mus. in music composition from Carnegie Mellon University. He also studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Hochschule für Musik und Drama in Hannover, Germany. Powell is the horn instructor at Lawrence Community Music School. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by orchestras and chamber groups in New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, and elsewhere.
Melting Point/Melting Pot Overture is a commission by the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the orchestra’s 75th anniversary. It honors the many cultures that call Stevens Point home. Powell composed sections with (sometimes faint) references to Spanish, French, Austrian, and Polish music. Yes, even a brief Polka. As a birthday piece, it could be non-stop frivolity. Powell included more introspective, mysterious music as a reminder of our weather and as a contrast to the high spirits of most of the Overture. After all, when Powell began thinking about what he would compose, there was snow on the ground several weeks past Easter last Spring.
Tickets are $35/Adult, $30/Senior and $12/student or child. UWSP Students will have $5 walk-up tickets. Tickets are available online at cwso.org, at the CWSO office (inside the Smith Scarabocchio Art Museum), by calling the office at 715-345-7726, or at the door of each performance.
The Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra consists of sixty-five professional musicians coming from the central Wisconsin region. The players hold an array of occupations; many are music educators, university professors, students, and full-time professional musicians. The regional orchestra is celebrating 75 years at the heart of the vibrant arts and cultural life of Central Wisconsin. The organizational mission is “To enrich, engage and educate through the power and performance of live music.”
