New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), continues its 2021-2022 45th Anniversary Season with “Dvořák’s New World,” featuring his Symphony No. 9 in E-minor 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14. The program also includes Sarasate’s Fantasy on Bizet’s “Carmen” featuring guest violinist David Taylor, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Assistant Concertmaster The piece is commonly regarded as one of the most challenging pieces for violin. Soprano Alisa Jordheim will also join Taylor for Richard Strauss’ “Morgen!,” Following each performance, Taylor leads a free MAC Chat and a special presentation of his photography.
Antonín Dvořák (1842 – 1904) is one of the first Czech composers to achieve worldwide recognition. He moved to the United States in 1892 and following his arrival wrote a series of newspaper articles reflecting on the state of American music. He supported the concept that African American and Native American music should be used as a foundation for the growth of American music. These sonic influences of his newly adopted homeland are evident in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E-minor (New World Symphony), which he composed and premiered in New York City to great acclaim in 1893. It has been described as one of the most popular of all symphonies. Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of the symphony along during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, the first Moon landing.
The program also features
• Pablo de Sarasate’s (1844 – 1908) Fantasy on Bizet’s “Carmen,” which is one of Sarasate's most well-known works and is considered to be one of the most challenging and technically demanding pieces for the violin. It contains five movements. The last, “Moderato,” is based on the scene at the beginning of Act II where Carmen and her friends are entertaining Zuniga and other officers. It is the most technically difficult movement of the five, employing fast arpeggios spanning the range of the instrument and a final virtuoso tempo acceleration. Guest violinist David Taylor joins New Philharmonic to perform this impressive feat.
• Richard Strauss’ (1864 – 1949) “Morgen!” Opus 27, No. 4 in G-minor. Guest soprano Alisa Jordheim joins Taylor on what is perhaps one of Strauss's best-known and most widely recorded works. Guest artist sponsored by John Rutledge and Betty Joseph.
Taylor joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as assistant concertmaster in 1979. With the Chicago Symphony, he has made numerous solo appearances, including performances with Sir Georg Solti. He also has served as acting concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony and concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. As a lover of chamber music, he often appears in recital and solo performances in the Chicago area, at the Ravinia Festival and on WFMT-FM. He frequently performs with the Pressenda Trio with fellow CSO cellist Gary Stucka and pianist Andrea Swan. Taylor teaches privately at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. A coach of orchestral violinists, he has students in orchestras across the United States and Japan and has developed a passion for photography. Taylor plays a J.B. Guadagnini violin, made in 1744. He made his debut with New Philharmonic in 2015 in "Bach to Bock."
Tickets
New Philharmonic presents the “Dvořák’s New World” at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13; 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14. Tickets are $53 adult, $51 senior. $10 tickets are available for students.
A free MAC Chat featuring a special presentation by guest violinist David Taylor of his photography follows each performance. For more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call the MAC box office at 630.942.4000, Tuesday – Sunday, 12 noon – 6 p.m.
2021-2022 Season Protocols
New Philharmonic and the McAninch Arts Center/College of DuPage value the safety and health of the audience, staff and artists, and are practicing safety guidelines set forth by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Illinois.
Policies include:
• Masks that cover both the nose and mouth are required for everyone over the age of 2.
• Tickets are scanned touchless upon arrival.
• Digital programs are available.
• Hand-sanitizing stations are available at entrances. If a patron is not feeling well, has a fever, has been exposed to anyone symptomatic for COVID-19, or has recently been tested and waiting results, they are requested to postpone their visit for another day and contact the Box Office to reschedule or request a refund.
In addition, for added comfort and safety, audience capacity will be limited.
For more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org, email the Box Office at themac@cod.edu or call 630.942.4000.
About New Philharmonic
New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra based in DuPage County, Ill., has inspired classical music enthusiasts in Chicago and the suburbs for more than four decades. It continues to thrive with the goal to give innovative treatment to both classic compositions and modern works while striving to make the music accessible to new audiences and youth through a variety of educational efforts. Today, under the direction of Kirk Muspratt, named 2018 Conductor of the Year (Professional Orchestra) by Illinois Council of Orchestras, New Philharmonic consists of more than 60 professional musicians and typically performs more than a dozen concerts a year, reaching more than 7,500 from the greater Chicago area annually. New Philharmonic was recently honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355 at 425 Fawell Blvd. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 180-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), an outdoor venue, the Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 2 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org, @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for New Philharmonic is provided in part by the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation; STG Divorce Law; Bjarne R. Ullsvik; Brookdale-Glen Ellyn; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; WDCB 90.9 FM and the College of DuPage Foundation.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.
Programs at the MAC are partially supported through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.