For the third concert of the QCSO's Masterworks season, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra is featuring its own principal cellist Hannah Holman performing Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Also on the program is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. These concerts will be performed on December 5 and 6, and sponsored in memory of Stanley and Bernice Harris by Shirley Harris. Saturday evening's concert will be held at the Adler Theatre in Davenport at 8 p.m. and followed on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Centennial Hall in Rock Island. Tickets start at $10 for Saturday night's performance and $18 for Sunday afternoon. Tickets can be purchased in person at the QCSO Box Office, 327 Brady Street in Davenport, by phone at 800.745.3000, online at www.QCSymphony.com, and at the door.
Dvorak’s Cello Concerto is one of the most famous cello
concertos of all time. Hannah Holman began her professional career in England,
playing with the English String Orchestra under Yehudi Menuhin and the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle. She has an
active solo career, performing with orchestras in Michigan, Virginia,
Georgia and Iowa. The second half of this concert is comprised of
Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Considered the greatest of
Shostakovich’s symphonies, its premier elicited open weeping and a
forty-minute ovation.
On the Thursday before the concerts, Quad Citians will get the
chance to hear Music Director Mark Russell Smith share his insights into the
upcoming performance at Inside the Music. Expert and novice alike
will enjoy this casual musical conversation at the Figge Art Museum in
Davenport from 5:00 to 6:30 PM on Thursday, December 4. This event is free to the public,
with wine and cheese provided.On Friday night, both Smith and Holman will take a moment to meet with area school children at Hot Dog! We're Going To The Symphony! sponsored by Target and KJWW Engineering. These students will have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious hot dog dinner at 6:30, and then sit in on the 7 PM rehearsal. Reservations can be made with Melinda Hubbell, Director of Education and Community Engagement, at 563.322.0931 by December 2.
Finally, Mark Russell Smith and Hannah Holman will be available at Kai Swanson's Concert Conversations, held in the concert halls an hour before each of the weekend's concerts. At Concert Conversations the audience members will be given a quick tour of highlights from the program they are about to experience. This look into the background of the concert's repertoire, sponsored by Rich James of Wells Fargo Advisors, has been running since 1996 and is an audience favorite.
