COD Chamber Orchestra Performs at the MAC May 14
The College of DuPage Chamber Orchestra will perform a concert featuring guest violist Keith Conant, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, on the Mainstage of the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. in Glen Ellyn.
The chamber orchestra performs under Music Director and Conductor Dan Pasquale D'Andrea of Downers Grove.
The concert features Mozart's “Symphony No.31 in D major, ‘Paris',” Beethoven's “Leonore Overture, No. 1, Op. 138,” and Georg Philipp Telemann's “Viola Concerto in G major.”
“A bubbling symphony, Mozart wrote ‘Paris' for the fickle Parisian public to, in essence, ‘show off' his skill and prowess as a composer, though he had a poor opinion of Parisian tastes,” D'Andrea said. “It contains the typical Mozartian charm, including the first use of clarinets by the composer in the symphonic genre."
Keith Conant is Principal violist for the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra and studied viola at the Juilliard School of Music with Paul Doktor where he held principal viola positions in the school's Pre-College Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra. He also studied with Karen Tuttle at the Aspen Music Festival where he received four consecutive fellowships and was the principal violist in the Aspen Concert Orchestra. Conant is former principal viola with the American Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, and the Tanglewood Young Artists Orchestra and was a member of the Seattle Symphony from 1984 to 1986.
He has performed on WFMT radio with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and has participated in chamber music festivals across the country, including the Ravinia Festival, Second City Chamber Players in Seattle and the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island. Conant was a member of the Rembrandt Chamber Players for 16 years and has two commercial chamber music recordings: George Flynn's “American Rest” for clarinet, viola, cello and piano and “Lux Aeterna” by William Ferris for flute and viola. He also recorded in Chicago studios for the Smashing Pumpkins, Mannheim Steamroller, and many others.
D'Andrea is music director of several ensembles, including the Senior Suburban Orchestra, COD's Chamber Orchestra, Combined Church Choir of Itasca, Wind Harmonies Wind Ensemble, and Sinfonietta Bel Canto. He has music degrees from DePaul University, the New England Conservatory and Northern Illinois University and is a skilled harpsichordist and bassoonist. D'Andrea served as director of the Salt Creek Sinfonietta for 14 years and currently is principal bassoon with the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra.
For more information, call the MAC Ticket Office at (630) 942-4000, or visit: www.atthemac.org.