I am playing this Friday and Satrday (10/20 and 10/21 at 8 p.m.) with the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Master Singers at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. For tickets, phone 630-752-5010 or visit this website. We are performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah, which is a powerful oratorio. It has a fiendishly difficult bass part, but even so it is a lot of fun to play. The performance will be pushing three hours, so if you come be prepared to stay until almost 11 p.m. The bass section for these peformances is really excellent. John Floeter, Doug Johnson, and Roland Moyer are my section mates, and it is a lot of fun to play with these guys.
Alan Heatherington normally directs the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Master Singers, but John Nelson is the conductor for this performance. John Nelson’s bio reads:
The distinguished American conductor, John Nelson, is one of the world’s most versatile and accomplished conductors. He is highly regarded not only for his great interpretations of large Romantic works and his stylish performances of Baroque music, but also for his vibrant Mozart and Haydn and his devotion to new music.
Born in Costa Rica, John Nelson studied at the Juilliard School where he won the Irving Berlin prize in conducting. He has held the titles of Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony, the adventurous Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Caramoor Music Festival in New York. He has also been principal guest conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon and artistic adviser to the Nashville and Louisville Orchestras.
Presently John Nelson is Music Director of L’Ensemble orchestral de Paris, a Beethoven size chamber orchestra which, through its international touring and EMI recordings as well as its strong following at home, is establishing itself as a major force.
Read his complete bio here.
Wayne Tigges is the bass-baritone playing Elijah for this perfomance. Visit his website here.
technorati tags: Mendelssohn, Elijah, Wheaton, Chicago, Master, Singers, Ars, Viva, Symphony
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