Waukegan Symphony Orchestra plans concert in memory of Rad Bradbury
The Waukegan Park District-Cultural Arts Division announced the 38th season of the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, which will open with a concert in the memory of Ray Bradbury.
This is the beginning of Maestro Blackwelder's 13th season with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra as its music director. He will lead the four subscription concerts with the WSO.
The opening concert, “Beyond Ordinary — Music in Memory of Ray Bradbury,” will be held at Waukegan High School Trapp Auditorium, 2325 Brookside Ave., Waukegan, 4 p.m. Oct. 21.
Tickets are available at the door or may be purchased by stopping by Jack Benny Center for the Arts or calling (847) 360-4740. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover are accepted.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and military, $7 for students 19 and older and free to students 18 and younger. Children 12 and younger should be accompanied by an adult.
Music for this memorial concert will include “Prelude to Act I of Macbeth” by Verdi, “A Night on Bald Mountain” by Moussorgsky/Rimsky Korsakov, Holst's “Mars,” “The Bringer of War” from The Planets, and Zimmer & Howard's concert suite from “The Dark Knight.”
The leadership of the WSO felt it was important to honor Bradbury's memory by dedicating a concert in his honor.
Bradbury, a world-renowned American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, poet and visionary, was born in Waukegan Aug. 22, 1920.
In the fall of 1926, Bradbury's family moved from Waukegan to Tucson, Ariz., only to return to Waukegan in May 1927. By 1931 he began writing his own stories on butcher paper. In 1932, after his father was laid off his job as a telephone lineman, the Bradbury family again moved to Tucson and again returned to Waukegan the following year.
In 1934, the final move came when the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles. Ray continued to live in Los Angeles with his wife Maggie until her death in November 2003.
Bradbury continued to live in his home and was actively writing and lecturing until shortly before his death June 5, 2012.