FLORENCE-On Sunday, March 4th 2018, a mass choir will join the Shoals Symphony at UNA as they present Beethoven’s final masterwork, the Ninth Symphony.
“Nothing captivates the senses like a performance of Beethoven’s thrilling Symphony No. 9 (“Ode to Joy”) with 240+ musicians on stage!” said Music Director and Conductor, Dr. Daniel Stevens.
Vocalists from UNA Choruses, Florence Camerata, Shoals Chamber Singers, Bob Jones High School, and UAH Chamber Choir will combine to form the mass choir. With the largest orchestra of the season, more than 240 musicians will fill the Norton Auditorium stage.
Performing with the orchestra will be guest soloists Tiffany Bostic-Brown, soprano; Gretchen Windt, alto; Roderick George, tenor; and Terrance Brown, baritone. The orchestra will also perform Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in E minor.
Another highlight of the program will be a performance by UNA vocal student Aurora Russell, soprano. Russell won the annual UNA Solo Artist Competition and will perform “Quel Guardo, il Cavaliere” from Donizetti’s opera Don Pasquale with the orchestra.
Annually, the Shoals Symphony at UNA holds a Solo Artist Competition for UNA music students. The competition encompasses students from every musical talent. In November, more than 30 students compete in four preliminary divisions judged by UNA music faculty. A handful of finalists move on to compete in a public finalists recital the following January. Three prestigious musicians from professional orchestras or nearby universities serve as judges for the final round.
The concert, entitled Joyful Virtue, begins at 3 p.m. in Norton Auditorium on the UNA campus. Adult tickets range from $16-$24 and are available at shoalssymphony.una.edu, at the Lindsey Theatre Box Office and at the door. Tickets for students and children (12 and under) are available at the door for $8. Prior to the show will be the brief Pre-concert Lecture with Mr. Alan Flowers. The lecture will be held in the UNA Recital Hall at 2:15pm.
For more information, visit shoalssymphony.una.edu or call (256)710-1623.
Media Release/Gwen Schajatovic Assistant Director of Operations Shoals Symphony Orchestra
