Our Conductor Search Begins!

This season will be bittersweet for our symphony. As we’ve said goodbye to our Maestro Brian Groner, we now begin the search for our new music director. Brian left behind an amazing legacy, and we are faced with the challenge of finding another great leader to bring us forward.

     After a long and through search, we’ve narrowed the field to four finalists, and I can’t wait for you to meet them. They are all skilled conductors, dedicated educators, and passionate community advocates. Each will share both new music and classics on their concert. Each will work with a soloist and get to know our orchestra both on and off stage.

     More importantly, we want YOU to get to know them. We will have times during their week in Appleton for you to see them in both formal and informal settings, answering questions, and discussing why they are excited to come to our area and join our orchestra.

     Each concert week will be followed up by our team collecting your thoughts and comments. We will have comment cards and surveys at the hall for each concert, as well as emailed surveys, and website forms. Please feel free to give us your candid feedback, ask questions, and become a part of this process.

     I can’t tell you how important this is to all of us. Let us hear from you! We are hoping the person we hire is part of our community, both on stage and off, for a very long time. Please let us know your impressions and help us make a very informed and inclusive decision.

     We would love for you to become a season ticket holder, and then you will receive updates from us throughout the season, letting you know about opportunities to get involved.

  We’re grateful for the 23 years of artistry and dedication Maestro Groner contributed to this community, and we look forward to our next chapter under the baton of our new director. 

     Please scroll down to learn more about our first conductor candidate, Howard Hsu, and join us this Saturday, October 6, at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center for our 2018-19 Opening Night!

     -  Jamie LaFreniere, Executive Director

BUY YOUR TICKETS TO OPENING NIGHT ONLINE NOW!

Save the dates!

October 6, 2018: Conductor Howard Hsu

                  Jonathan Bailey Holland—Motor City Remix

                  Samuel Barber– Violin Concerto, Op. 14, Soloist Kelly Hall-Tompkins

                  Johannes Brahms—Symphony No. 2, Op. 73 in D major

                 

November 17, 2018: (No candidate for this concert)

Disney’s Pixar in Concert! Enjoy scores from your favorite Disney Pixar films! A visually stunning, high-definition, multi-media family show!

January 26, 2019: Conductor Wesley Schulz
Chris Rogerson– Luminosity

Jennifer Higdon– blue cathedral

Aaron Copland– Clarinet Concerto, Soloist Jorge Montilla Moreno

Sergei Rachmaninoff– Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

March 9, 2019: Conductor Alastair Willis

Mason Bates– Mothership

Dmitry Shostakovich– Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 107 in E flat Major,

Soloist Alexander Hersh

Sergei Prokofiev– Romeo & Juliet, Selections from Suites 1 and 2

May 11, 2019: Conductor Kevin Sütterlin
Adam Hochstatter– My Name is Aiden

Jim Pugh– Trombone Concerto, Soloist Thomas Stark

César Franck– Symphony in D minor

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We start the season on October 6 with Conductor Howard Hsu. We've had a fun week with him visiting Appleton East High School, Lawrence University, 91.1 the Avenue, and getting to know our board and donors. Last night was our first rehearsal with the full group, and we continue with a strings-only rehearsal tonight. We can't wait to get in the P.A.C. hall for the first time on Friday night with special guest violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, friends from our season underwriters at The Boldt Company, and students from Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Boys & Girls Club. It will be a busy weekend, we we can't wait to share this music with you!

Howard Hsu at the Fox Cities P.A.C. (Photo: Graham Washatka)

Learn a little more about our Conductor Howard Hsu:

Howard Hsu is the Music Director of the Valdosta (GA) Symphony Orchestra, and serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Orchestra Studies at Valdosta State University. Under his leadership, the Valdosta Symphony was selected as the 2014 winner of the American Prize in Orchestral Performance (community division). He has performed with world-renowned artists such as Robert McDuffie, Simone Dinnerstein, Jennifer Frautschi, Wendy Warner, Rachel Barton Pine, Stanford Olsen, Alexander Ghindin, Alexander Schimpf, Katia Skanavi, Awadagin Pratt, Amy Schwartz Moretti, and the Empire Brass, and has introduced live classical music to thousands of children in the Southern Georgia region. He conducted the world premiere of James Oliverio’s Trumpet Concerto No. 1: World House, the U.S. premiere of Ned McGowan’s Concerto for iPad and Orchestra (Rotterdam Concerto 2), and has given the Georgia premieres of Fernande Decruck’s Sonata for Saxophone and Orchestra, several of the Debussy/Matthews Preludes, and Jonathan Bailey Holland’s Motor City Dance Mix. Hsu has appeared as a guest conductor with the Hartford (CT) Symphony Orchestra, Macon (GA) Symphony, New Britain (CT) Symphony, and Bronx (NY) Arts Ensemble. Hsu received his D.M.A. from the University of Connecticut, his M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and his B.S. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Visit www.howardhsuconductor.com for more information.

The 5 Milers + FVSO = Support Your Symphony!

Local folk group The 5 Milers started in 1962 with a group of friends in high school, and today they are raising money for local charities with their love of music.

Rob Billings, one of the founders, remembers how it all started. “I purchased a used six dollar guitar and ask Tom and Terry, ‘how do you play this thing?’ We were only in our sophomore year at Neenah high school, but we were motivated.”

Music from the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Weavers inspired them. Once they got the hang of it, they were hooked.  

Their love of music carried through the years, and even though not all of them are still living in Wisconsin, they always return home for a few concerts each year, and their fans follow them each time. They’ve drawn crowds in Neenah, at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, and other venues around the Fox Cities. “Our audiences love the folk music of the 1960s and many sing along,” says Billings, “and others simply sit back and remember where they were when they first heard the music.” 

A few years ago, they decided to put their love of music, and their growing audience, to use in helping the community. “I had the honor of performing with Door County bluegrass musician Bill Jorgenson, and he had some great advice for us.” says Billings. “He encouraged the band to do annual benefits in support of causes we really believe in. He was right, and it is such a win-win situation for us! We get to play the music we love, the audience has a great time, and it all goes toward supporting charities in our own community.”

The 5 Milers select a new group to help each year. Past recipients include Homeless Connections, Old Glory Honor Flights, and Backpack for Kids. This year’s recipient is another local musical group, the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra. Billings approached the symphony first as a recipient, but it soon became clear the partnership could grow.

 

“We were so honored they picked us for the benefit this year,” says Jamie LaFreniere, Executive Director of the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra. “But as we started talking, Rob had the fantastic idea of having both our groups share the stage for this special night.” The concert is sponsored by gifts from J.J. Keller & Associates and Dr. Monroe Trout and Sandra Lemke.

“We’re looking forward to a fun night of 60s classics,” says LaFreniere. “We love to partner with other groups in our community, and bring together different genres and fans of all types of music. We’re just lucky to live in a community where there are so many choices!”

The concert is on September 13 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, and proceeds will go to the symphony. PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE!

“Growing up in the Fox Cities, our group had many memorable and enjoyable moments,” says Billings. “It is our pleasure to try to give back to our community both in our performances and with the money raised for charity.”

FVSO Received NEA Grant for Brubeck Outreach

The Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support outreach activities associated with our upcoming concert featuring Grammy-nominated composer and trombonist Chris Brubeck. 

The $10,000 “Challenge America” grant will underwrite the costs for Brubeck and Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra musicians to share the music of modern American legends with veterans and audiences in rural areas, as well as support Brubeck’s appearance with at the symphony’s February 3 concert at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center’s Thrivent Financial Hall.

Brubeck’s outreach events will include an interactive workshop at the Gerold Opera House in Weyauwega focusing on performance and music composition with band students from the Weyauwega area.  He’ll follow that up with a lecture and performance at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.  The FVSO’s Brass Circle quintet will accompany Brubeck at both appearances.

Photo Credit: Stephane Colbert

“Working with the local youth is part of our mission. Helping to provide the opportunity to be inspired and informed by Chris Brubeck and members of the symphony is very exciting,” said Kathy Fehl, Artistic Director of WEGA Arts.  “The effort to work with us and other places in the area is wonderful; encouraging kids to consider a life in the arts is very important.”

Brubeck said he hopes that he can contribute to the creative spirit in the young music students.

“We still live in a society where a creative thinker, player, visual artist, dancer, film maker, author or singer can still have a significant impact. If I can connect with, encourage and inspire one young person to pursue their dreams then I feel that the mission was accomplished,” said Brubeck. “The Arts are a reminder of our wonderful human potential.”

Brubeck’s performance at the Veteran’s Home at King inspired some memories of his father, jazz musician and composer, Dave Brubeck.

“Through the years, my Dad told me many stories about his going into hospitals and playing music for Veterans which seemed to connect with them in a special way,” said Chris Brubeck. “If the Vets can't come to a concert, I am happy to go to see them and reach out through music.”

On February 3, Brubeck will be featured as the guest artist for the symphony’s “Modern American Legends” concert.  He will also participate in a discussion with FVSO’s Sandra Lemke & Monroe Trout Music Director Brian Groner before the concert in the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center’s Kimberly-Clark Theater. 

The NEA Challenge America grant program offers support for projects that extend the reach of the arts to those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. 

ABOUT THE National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about NEA.  (Source, arts.gov/news)

ABOUT Chris Brubeck

Grammy-nominated composer Chris Brubeck continues to distinguish himself as a multi-faceted performer and creative force.  An award-winning writer, he is clearly tuned into the pulse of contemporary music. The respected music critic for The Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein calls Chris: “a composer with a real flair for lyrical melody--a 21st Century Lenny Bernstein.”   

  

Chris has created an impressive body of symphonic work while maintaining a demanding touring and recording schedule with his two groups:  the Brubeck Brothers Quartet (with brother Dan on drums), and Triple Play, an acoustic trio featuring Chris on piano, bass and trombone along with guitarist Joel Brown and harmonica player extraordinaire Peter Madcat Ruth. Additionally, Chris performs as a soloist playing his trombone concertos with orchestras and has served as Artist in Residence with orchestras and colleges in America, coaching, lecturing, and performing with students and faculty.

Chris is a much sought-after composer, and has been commissioned to write many innovative works. Current projects include a concerto for the Canadian Brass Quintet to be premiered with the Lexington Philharmonic in November 2017.  As Composer in Residence with the New Haven Symphony, Chris premiered Time Changes for Jazz Combo and Orchestra.  He had two new commissions premiere in 2016:  "Fanfare for a Remarkable Friend" and "Sphere of Influence".  His "Affinity: Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra" was written for celebrated guitarist Sharon Isbin, and premiered in April, 2015.  To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Allied Liberation of France in June, 2014, Chris and French composer Guillaume Saint-James wrote Brothers in Arts: 70 Years of Liberty, which premiered to much acclaim in Rennes, France. Chris's long list of commissions are varied and range from a Russian-American cooperative project commissioned by the Hermitage Museum and the National Gallery ("The Hermitage Cats Save the Day"), to the Kennedy Center for the National Symphony Orchestra; to concertos written for violinist Nick Kendall; the exciting trio Time for Three, a song cycle for Frederica von Stade ("River of Song") as well as many chamber and orchestral pieces commissioned by the Concord Chamber Music Society, the Muir String Quartet, 3 commissions from The Boston Pops, and multiple commissions from consortiums including The Boston Pops, Baltimore Symphony, Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Indianapolis Symphony, Portland Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, and many others. 

His highly acclaimed Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra, has been played by many of the top bass trombonists in the world and was recorded with Chris as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra.  It can be heard on the Koch International Classics recording "Bach to Brubeck".  He also wrote a second trombone concerto, The Prague Concerto which he premiered and recorded with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra on the Koch cd, "Convergence".  Reviewing that disc, Fanfare Magazine wrote "Brubeck's skill both as composer and soloist is extraordinary." April, 2009 saw the premiere of “Ansel Adams: America”, an exciting orchestral piece written by Chris and Dave Brubeck.  It was commissioned by a consortium of eight orchestras and is accompanied by 100 of Ansel Adams’ majestic images projected above the orchestra.  In 2013, "Ansel Adams: America" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition. 

Join us for the Concert on Saturday:

February 3 at 6:40 pm:  Pre-show lecture in the Kimberly-Clark Theatre at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.

February 3 at 7:30 pm:  Concert with the Fox Valley Symphony in Thrivent Hall at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.