EYSO Faculty Recital Benefits Scholarship Fund

Switching roles from teacher to concert performer, more than a dozen accomplished area musicians shared their gifts with an audience of students and parents in a free concert Sunday at Elgin Community College. 

The seven-part program featured performances by the conductors, teachers, and administrators of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra's numerous ensembles, leaving no doubt as to the passion and depth of talent that sustains a professional musician.

Members of EYSO faculty perform "Septet, op. 65" by Camille Saint-Saëns

The tradition of the great masters was honored in classics by Bach and Saint-Saëns, alongside works by living composers scored for surprising combinations like cello and soprano voice. Four pieces were brilliantly arranged by the faculty themselves, as though to convince students that music is a living art requiring personal involvement far beyond playing back the notes printed on a page.

Events like these also offer a chance for EYSO faculty to demonstrate that music encompasses more than just strings, woodwinds and brass. The marimba, berimbau and electric guitar were played to superb effect, and the electric viola and bowed vibraphone highlighted the possibilities of unconventional playing techniques.

At the hands of an artist, electronic effects are a natural extension for traditional instruments, and jazz, television scores, and world music are all part of an equal-opportunity medium of expression that all people understand.

Karen Archbold, soprano and Timothy Archbold, cello
perform "Songs of the Night Wind" by Gwyneth Walker.

With all due respect to your neighbor lady with the dusty, old piano method books, these inspired faculty are living examples of what a devoted music career looks like, with its endless variety of challenges for the head, hands, and heart.

Students and their parents who are seriously considering higher education in music have no better place to explore and to prepare than in the programs of the EYSO. Voluntary donations raised at this concert will support scholarships for qualified students, but the EYSO welcomes your support in many forms.  For more information, visit www.eyso.org.

Area Artists Perform World Premier at Tribute Concert

Capping off another magnificent weekend for the arts in Elgin was a spectacular concert of soloists and a world premiere performance of original music in a program dedicated to the life of Nancy Hillquist, an Elgin mother, nurse and ECC educator who bravely fought cancer until September 2009. 

The audience in Epworth United Methodist church was nearing capacity Sunday as harpist Theodora Barclay played works by Rota and Saint-Saens. The angelic sounds of a solo harp are a rare pleasure, and Barclay's graceful and expressive renditions were a perfect prelude to the concert of remembrance that followed.

Concert organizer and noted Elgin choral conductor and organist Gary Hillquist commissioned an original anthem in honor of his wife Nancy, scored for choir, organ, harp, flute, brass quartet and percussion. The world premiere of "Great Our Joy," with original music by Joel Raney and words by Fred Pratt Green was performed by a superb ensemble: the Heartland Voices directed by Dr. John Slawson, harpist Theodora Barclay, flautist Diane Hansen, organist Aram Basmadjian and the five-piece Brilliant Brass.  

The sacred and inspiring lyrics were given a glorious setting by Raney in a perfect blend of traditional choral harmony and counterpoint, and a free modern form that used changes in key and voicing to create a sense of deep spiritual truth combined with constant, joyous renewal. 

The majority of the program featured the charismatic organ virtuoso Aram Basmadjian in series of works spanning three centuries. A former airline pilot, and now music executive and recording artist, Basmadjian produced an astonishing volume and variety of sounds on Epworth's three-manual Allen organ. Awed by his talent and delighted by his engaging and witty remarks before each piece, the audience was treated to an encore performance of Bach after giving a long standing ovation.

For more information on the artists, or to donate to the Community Crisis Center in honor of Nancy Hillquist, visit tributetonancy.wordpress.com.