MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Symphony will present its fall concert on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the R. R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium on the campus of the Mount Vernon Nazarene University. This concert will feature orchestral standards such as Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” and the signature Andante from Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony No. 94, but most notably the world premiere of “Imagine This,” a two-part work by Columbus-based composer Vera Stanojevic, which the Knox County Symphony commissioned this past year.
When Dr. Benjamin Locke commissioned Dr. Stanojevic to write a piece for the Symphony, his only prerequisites were that the piece would be within the range of a community orchestra’s ability to play it, and that it be “dramatic and/or flashy.” Hence, “Imagine This” was created.
The first movement is entitled “Echoes from the Mountains” and it exhibits dramatic interplay between the brasses, particularly the trumpets and horns freely echoing each other. The second movement, “Kubik-Musik,” is nothing if not flashy; its motives are short segments, somewhat akin to musical Legos that continually interlock (and unlock) in very complex ways.
Stanojevic was born in Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and studied piano, theory and composition at the Mokranjac School of Music in Belgrade. She received her graduate and post-graduate degrees in Music Composition from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow, Russia) and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Ohio State University. She has won numerous awards for her compositions, including the Individual Excellence Award of the State of Ohio Arts Council, the American Composers Forum Composers’ Commissioning Project Grant, the Dale Warland Choral Competition prize, as well as the Vienna Modern Masters Millennium Commissioning Competition prize. She has served as professor of theory and composition at Kenyon College, at Ball State University, at the Capital University Conservatory of Music, and has been guest professor at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.
The Knox County Symphony is in its 55th year of continuous operation, made up of musicians primarily from Knox County, including community members, high school students and college students. The orchestra is conducted by Dr. Benjamin Locke who has been at the helm since 1984. Tickets will be available at the door, or by calling Sarah Goslee Reed at 740-392-4955.
In addition to the concert, the symphony will present its third annual Fabulous Fall Feast. The pre-concert dinner will take place in the President's Dining Room on campus at 5:30 p.m. Enjoy a bountiful menu and a short Autumn walk to the concert after dinner! There is a cost with a portion benefiting the Knox County Symphony. Please RSVP to Sarah Goslee Reed at 740-392-4955 or on the website using your credit card at www.knoxcountysymphony.org
