The UGA Symphony Orchestra begins its 2011-2012 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series on Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center. The symphony orchestra, under the direction of Mark Cedel, will present a program of American classics. Tickets for the concert, $15 for the general public and $5 for UGA students with a valid ID, are available at the Performing Arts Center box office at 706-542-4400.
The program will open with Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein, followed by Charles Griffes’ The White Peacock. Griffes is the American contribution to the Impressionist period, a school characterized by the work of such composers as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. The “dean” of American composers, Aaron Copland wrote for both the concert hall and the theater.
The orchestra will conclude the first part of the evening with a performance of the Billy the Kid Suite, complete with a musical gun battle. The concert will conclude with a performance of Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, Romantic.
This is the 13th consecutive year in which the 80-member, all-student symphony orchestra has opened the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series.
“The University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra is honored to be asked once again to open the 2nd Thursday series, always an exciting event as the first major performance of the year,” said Cedel, a professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. “This year’s program is a little different than some in the past and a great chance for us to do some unabashed flag waving, musically speaking.”
Established in 1980, the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series showcases performances by UGA students and faculty on the second Thursday of each month throughout the academic year. Proceeds from individual ticket sales and season subscriptions allow for year-long academic scholarships and assistantships for students and presents donors the opportunity to sponsor individual students of the music school at several levels of giving.
In 2011, the 2nd Thursday series provided scholarships to 45 students based on faculty recommendations, academic achievement and performance ability.
