New Philharmonic opens season with 'Ode to Joy'
New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the College of DuPage, will open its 2019-20 season next month with "Ode to Joy."
Under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, the concerts will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, in the Belushi Performance Hall at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn.
The program will include Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, and a side-by-side performance of Beethoven's "Egmont" Overture, Op. 84, with the Metea Valley Symphony Orchestra. A free MAC Chat will take place one hour prior to each concert.
Tickets are $53 or $51 for seniors age 61 and older, or military or veterans. A limited number of $10 tickets are available for students with presentation of valid ID.
For tickets or more information, visit AtTheMAC.org or call (630) 942-4000.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, features the popular final movement "Ode to Joy," commonly regarded as Beethoven's greatest work. Composed when he was completely deaf, Beethoven was the first orchestral composer to use the human voice in a symphony.
The orchestra will be joined by four vocalists: soprano Katherine Weber, mezzo-soprano Kate Tombaugh, tenor James Judd and baritone Sam Handley, as well as the 100-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus.
Katherine Weber garnered considerable acclaim for her 2018 performance in the title role of "Iolanta" with Chicago Opera Theater. She also was recently seen with New Philharmonic as Rosalinde in Strauss's "Die Fledermaus," following her appearance as Violetta in New Philharmonic's "La Traviata" in 2017.
Kate Tombaugh was seen in last year's New Philharmonic season as a guest artist in "Show Boat and Show Tunes," and in the 2017 "The Best of Broadway: Rodgers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber." She has performed with opera companies and symphonies throughout the U.S.
James Judd was most recently seen at the McAninch Arts Center in the role of Alfred in New Philharmonic's January 2019 production of Strauss's "Die Fleidermaus." He has sung with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, and The AIMS Festival Orchestra. Judd also sings with many professional choruses, including the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
Sam Handley was last seen at the McAninch Arts Center in the role of Frank in New Philharmonic's January 2019 production of Strauss's "Die Fledermaus." As a member of Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center, he performed more than a dozen roles and sang with the National Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, and the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia with James Conlon.
The Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus, established in 1987, features more than 100 singers from all over the Northwest Indiana and South Chicago area.
The chorus has performed with the Northwest Indiana Symphony in everything from requiems to reggae and is the choral component of the Symphony Society, providing added texture and versatility to the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra's performance repertoire.
The program will open with New Philharmonic sharing the stage with members from Metea Valley High School's Symphony Orchestra for a side-by-side performance of Beethoven's, conducted by New Philharmonic Associate Conductor Ben Nadel.
"Egmont," Op. 84, was a set of incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
The music department of the Aurora-based high school has been acknowledged by the National Association of Music Merchants as one of the Best Communities for Music Education in America every year since 2012 and was named a Grammy Signature Gold School in 2016, one of just three in the country to receive the honor.