THE ARTS – Guest conductor, rising pianist conclude symphony season

Posted on April 11, 2017 in Arts/ Entertainment // 0 Comments

Guest conductor Martin MacDonald.

The Kamloops Symphony continues its new music director search and concludes the 2016/17 season with Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sagebrush Theatre.

As part of the search for a new music director, four guest conductors will appear in concert with the Kamloops Symphony during the 2016-2017 season. Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky features the fourth finalist Martin MacDonald as guest conductor.

Winner of the prestigious Heinz Unger Award for Orchestral Conducting from the Ontario Arts Council, MacDonald completed his master’s degree in orchestral conducting at McGill University in Montréal, and his bachelor’s degree in cello at Memorial University in St. John’s. He currently serves as associate conductor of Symphony Nova Scotia.

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko.

This concert’s featured soloist is gifted young pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko from Salmon Arm. Jaeden has won numerous awards and recognitions in both provincial and national competitions. Recently, he was awarded first place in piano and went on to earn the Grand Prize Award for all disciplines in the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals’ National competition.

He has performed as a soloist with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra and the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and has collaborated with singers, instrumentalists, and chamber ensembles, both local and international. He regularly organizes and presents solo recitals to benefit both local community projects and international humanitarian organizations.

Izik-Dzurko will be performing one of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, for piano soloist and orchestra. Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky also takes you back to 19th century Pennsylvania with Copland’s most beloved “Americana” work, Appalachian Spring. The concert then shifts over to 1930’s France with Tailleferre’s Overture for Orchestra, and concludes with Stravinsky’s passionate Firebird Suite.

Tickets can be purchased from Kamloops Live! Box Office at 1-866-374-5483 or www.kamloopslive.ca.