Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra Celebrates 50th Anniversary!
Michigan Tech Music will present Orff’s Carmina Burana to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. The KSO will be joined on stage by conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers, Michigan Tech Concert Choir, local youth singers, and professional soloists. Tickets are $19/Adults, $6/Youth, and free for MTU students (and a guest) with Experience Tech Fee. They are available at events.mtu.edu or 906-487-1906. The concert will be live-streamed for far-away Michigan Tech Music lovers and alumni.
Disobedient, rowdy, and loads of fun, Carl Orff’s massive cantata, Carmina Burana—for large symphony orchestra, large chorus, and soloists—is one of the most popular works of the 20th century. Over 175 Michigan Tech and local musicians, along with three professional soloists, will rock the Rozsa stage for an evening of unbridled ecstasy. With music set to 24 satirical poems from the 11th and 12th centuries, Orff’s very modern choral-orchestral masterpiece starts and ends with the wild refrain, “O Fortuna,” popularized in numerous films and commercials.
Celebrating 50 years, the KSO is the U.P.’s oldest orchestra. One of five symphony orchestras in the Lake Superior region, the ensemble is comprised of MTU students, faculty and staff, and community musicians. The orchestra presents four- to five-concert seasons in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Regularly touring the Midwest, the KSO’s performances include orchestral masterworks, choral-orchestral, music theatre, ballet, opera, and pops. Over the last 50 years, seven conductors’ batons have directed the orchestra: John Clark, Grover Wilkins III, Michael Griffith, Jeff Bell-Hanson, Alton Thompson, Milton Olsson, and Joel Neves.
The evening comes together under the baton of Joel Neves, who has led the U.P.’s oldest orchestra since 2009. A two-time prizewinner in the American Prize in Conducting, Joel is Director of Orchestral Activities at Michigan Tech. Joel is pleased to collaborate on this concert with Michigan Tech Director of Choral Activities, Jared Anderson.
The soloists for Carmina Burana are Karen Beacom (soprano), Marcus McConico (tenor), and Nathan Herfindahl (baritone). Beacom, with a voice the Omaha World-Herald described as “warm and lyrical with a lot of dramatic power,” is the founder of Soo Opera and Artistic Director of the Soo Theatre Project in Sault St. Marie, MI. McConico has appeared on opera stages throughout the U.S. and internationally in Turkey, Italy, Israel, and Brazil. Herfindahl has national credits, including The Metropolitan Opera, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and The National Symphony Orchestra.
The program will also feature KSO performances of Capriccio espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Finlandia by Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius, and the Ukrainian National Anthem with soloist Lara Neves (soprano). After the concert, there will be a post-concert chat and Q&A with Joel Neves, KSO music director, in the Rozsa Lobby along with a celebratory reception with small bites and beverages.
