Ventura College Symphony Orchestra
Robert E. Lawson, Music Director/Conductor
Presents
Prelude: 20th Century Icons
Featuring Brent Wilson
October 8, 2011 8:00 PM
Oxnard College Performing Arts Building
4000 South Rose Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033 Program
The Unanswered Question (1906) Charles Ives (1874 – 1954)
Song of a Wayfarer (1890) Gustav Mahler (1860 -1911)
No. 1 “Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht”
No. 2 "Ging heut Morgen übers Feld"
No. 3 "Ich hab'ein glühend Messer"
No. 4 "Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz"
Brent Wilson, Baritone
Le Tombeau De Couperin (1914-17) Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Prelude
Menuet
Rigaudon
Ballet Suite Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
I.. Selections from Petrouchka (1911)
Scenes from the Fair
II. Selections from The Firebird (1910)
Berceuse and Finale
IINTERMISSION
Mars, the Bringer of War (1914–17) Gustav Holst (1874 – 1934)
The Three-Cornered Hat (1917) Manuel De Falla (1876 – 1946)
Introduction
Afternoon
The Neighbor’s Dance
The Miller’s Dance
Porgy and Bess Selections for Orchestra (1935) George Gershwin (1898 – 1937)
Robert E. Lawson, Music Director/Conductor of the Ventura College Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Clarita Symphony, has been involved in many areas of music. As a composer, Mr. Lawson's compositions have been performed throughout the United States. His Harp Sonata has received premieres at Florida State University, the XII Foro Internacional de Musica Nueva in Mexico City, and in Paris at the International Harp Festival. His String Trio was selected as one of the most innovating composition for the Ernest Bloch Music Festival. In 2003, he was commissioned to compose “Duets for Orchestra,” which had its world premier by the Ventura Symphony on December 1, 2004. Mr. Lawson has served as Music Director/ founder of the Ventura City Hall Concert Series for eleven seasons, was the founder and Music Director/Conductor of the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra for seven years. He was Music Director/Conductor of the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra for eighteen years until he turned over the orchestra in 2008 to its current director. From 1981 through 1988, he served as associate conductor of the Ventura County Symphony and Ventura Civic/Youth Orchestra. Mr. Lawson has been guest conductor of numerous orchestras both here in the United States and Europe. Mr. Lawson is currently Department Chair of Music at Ventura College, where he continues to develop and expand the department’s current student population of over 1,400 music students and 21 music faculty positions. Mr. Lawson received his M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts in 1991, his principal teachers have been Pulitzer winner Mel Powell, electronic music innovator Mort Subotnick, conductor/composer Stephen Mosko and Arnold Schoenberg institute director/professor Leonard Stein. His early academic inspiration and training began at Ventura College under the mentoring of Professors Frank Salazar and Dr. Burns Taft.
Los Angeles based tenor Brent Wilson is an avid soloist, recitalist, and specializes in character opera roles and concert repertoire. He has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles, notably with Boston Baroque, Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, Granite State Opera Orchestra, and Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra. Oratorio works include Handel's Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, Bach’s Magnificat, Britten’s War Requiem, Stainer’s Crucifixion, and staged performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Atlantic Union Orchestra which toured New England and Washington D.C. Originally a baritone, Wilson made his international debut with Opera Festival di Lucca as Alidoro in Cenerentola, then as Frank in Die Fledermaus with International Opera Festival in Opava, Czech Republic. Shortly thereafter, Wilson switched to tenor and made his debut with Boston Lyric Opera in Eugene Onegin. Since that time, he has been seen with Boston Lyric Opera as Don Curzio in Marriage of Figaro; Servante in Un Ballo in Maschera; and Cenobite Monk in Thais. Recent engagements have included Beppe in Pagliacci with Opera Santa Barbara, Don Curzio and Gastone in La Traviata with Granite State Opera. Other appearances include those with Chicago Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Opera Theatre St. Louis. Recently the Boston Globe said, “...tenor Brent Wilson's diction was superbly articulate and sensitive while his lyric lines had a propulsive warmth with dramatic intensity that never flagged.” Wilson currently serves as the Chorus Master of Opera Santa Barbara and is in his second year on faculty at Ventura College. He received his B.A. from Augustana College and M.M. from the Boston University School of Music and Opera Institute. He has taught on faculty at the Tanglewood Institute and at Augustana College. In his free time, Wilson likes to compete in triathlons, marathons, and Ironman races. |
