AUSO: Beethoven's Birthday Celebration

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Limited FREE tickets available to Andrews University music majors and minors, the Enjoyment of Music class, current Andrews University students and current Andrews University staff. You can pick up your ticket at the Howard Center office.

Andrews University Symphony Orchestra: "Beethoven’s 250th Birthday Celebration"
Pre-Concert Discussion at 8:30 p.m., Concert at 8:45 p.m.

Featuring composer Kaija Perry, the Andrews University Singers and vocal soloists Sara Emerson (soprano), Julie Karpenko Reid (alto), Charles Reid (tenor) and Stephen Zork (baritone). Conducted by Chris Wild.

Faculty and students of the Andrews University Department of Music are pleased to join together as a large (and physically distanced) group to celebrate composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday. His iconic "Symphony No. 9," which features a choir and vocal soloists in addition to full orchestra, promises to offer joy and inspiration to our community members at the close of a unique year.

Our event will begin with a special treat—Andrews University Masters of Music Composition student Kaija Perry has composed a new work that will begin the concert. Titled "Journey Through the Mind of a Composer," her composition provides an interpretation of what Beethoven’s “musical mind sounded like throughout the major events of his life, while also taking the creative liberty to interject [Perry’s] themes and ideas.” Since sunset will be late on May 1, our event will begin with an on-stage discussion with Perry at 8:30 p.m. and music shortly after 8:45.

Following the premiere performance of Perry’s work, the orchestra will be joined by vocalists to mount a full performance of Beethoven’s ambitious 9th symphony. The composition will test the technical and emotional range and endurance of all its performers, as it typically totals 65–75 minutes of complex music making. The first and second movements of the symphony are full of vibrant rhythmic energy, which Beethoven sets in many configurations, including some of the most delicate and contrastingly dramatic moments in Classical music, reflecting the highs and lows of the composer’s personal life. After the beautiful and replenishing third movement, Beethoven’s "Finale" includes a musical setting of Friedrich von Schiller’s poem "Ode to Joy," for which a full choir and four vocal soloists join the orchestra. Schiller’s poem is an inspiring call for unity and joy through Christian fellowship. In addition to colorful metaphors for the divine nature of joy, Schiller’s words compel us to “be embraced, millions” and to seek the creator “above the starry canopy!”

Program:

Kaija Perry—"Journey Through the Mind of a Composer"

Ludwig van Beethoven—"Symphony No. 9"

• "I—Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso"
• "II—Molto vivace"
• "III—Adagio molto e cantabile"
• "IV—Finale"

Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Chris Wild

The Andrews University Symphony Orchestra is the core ensemble of the orchestral program at Andrews University. In addition to their current series at the Howard Performing Arts Center, the Symphony Orchestra travels within the Great Lakes region as well as internationally. Since 2006, the orchestra has performed in Italy, Austria, Germany, France, the Philippines and Costa Rica.