As we welcome 7500+ area children to Heinz Hall this week, the spotlight should be on the music educators who do so much for the region. To lead off, let’s meet 2015 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, Mairi Cooper. Where do you teach? Fox Chapel Area High School (although I have taught in the elementary…
DetailsRobert Lauver By Craig Knox Position: 2nd Horn Joined PSO in: 2000 Previous positions: St. Louis Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Austin Symphony “I was previously in the St. Louis Symphony for 8 years, where my wife Marina and I started our family. We were very happy there, and it was a great 52-week orchestra…
DetailsFrom left to right: PSO violist Meng Wang, Jia Hong-Guang , PSO cellist Adam Liu, and Zhan Shu by Craig Knox PSO Assistant-Concertmaster Jia Hong-Guang, a native of Shenyang, China, left that country in 1979 to study with the famed Yehudi Menuhin. He began his orchestral career playing in the Baltimore Symphony, and was later…
DetailsTwo PSO musicians plant roots in the Pittsburgh community by Susanne Park For PSO bassist John Moore and bassoonist David Sogg, trees are especially important. As players of two of the largest wooden musical instruments, a lot of trees go into making their music possible. But beyond that, John and David know how important trees…
DetailsZoltan Kodaly By Ron Samuels Zoltán Kodály’s Dances of Galanta is an orchestral tour de force. Its dynamism and virtuosity are a thrill for orchestras to play and audiences to hear. Among many musically distinctive features is its famously prominent first clarinet part. There are two cadenzas, one of which occurs just prior to…
Detailsby Suzanne Park “Music is the social act of communication among people, a gesture of friendship, the strongest there is…” – Malcolm Arnold, English composer One of the great benefits of playing in a symphony orchestra is getting to know the “regulars” – our subscribers, the friendly faces you know you’ll see when you walk…
Detailsby Jack Howell What makes a symphony orchestra great? The obvious answer would be, “How well it plays. Duh.” Well, yes, but according to whom? Many years ago, I was walking to my car after playing a concert as principal clarinet with a smaller orchestra. Small in that it only played a few concerts a…
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