Northwest Symphony Orchestra concert Feb. 10 with dueling trumpets
The award winning Northwest Symphony Orchestra will present the second concert of its 61st season on Sunday, February 10, at 3:30 PM at the Theatre for the Performing Arts at Maine West High School, 1755 S. Wolf Road in Des Plaines. This concert is titled “Trumpet Fantasy” and features the trumpet duo of Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer with orchestra playing Bizet-Hunsberger's Carmen Fantasia, a piece written especially for the duo. The orchestra will also perform David Ott's Symphony No. 5 and Brahms' Tragic Overture.
Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer are both Professors of Trumpet at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, and were formally Professors of Trumpet at the Eastman School of Music, and members of the Eastman Brass. Butler has served as co-principal Trumpet with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Principal Trumpet of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, and Acting Associate/Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Houston and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, and as a member of the Eastman Virtuosi. Geyer began performing as Principal Trumpet with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra at age 19, and was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in his senior year at Northwestern University. He has been Principal Trumpet for the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony. Butler and Geyer each have multiple recordings, and have recorded the Carmen Fantasia for Two Trumpets and Orchestra on the Warner Classics label.
Prior to the concert, the Northwest Symphony will present its popular pre-concert commentary with Carolyn Paulin, a producer and program host at radio station WFMT 98.7Chicago. The commentary will begin at 2:30.
The orchestra, founded in 1951, now numbers 70 instrumentalists, ranging from talented students to music professionals, who meet weekly to play and enjoy great symphonic music. Symphony members, whose ages range from the late teens to the eighties, live in Des Plaines and more than 45 surrounding communities.
Concert ticket prices are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors, and $10 for students. Children under age 14 are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. Ticket are available at the door on concert day, or may be purchased in advance by mailing requests and payment checks to the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, PO Box 46, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056,or by using the online order form and PayPal available on the Orchestra's Web site, www.northwestysymphony.org.