Press/News
Superstar Violinist Chee-Yun Kicks Off Key West Symphony’s Master Concert Series
By Paradise
Thursday – September 30th, 2010
Superstar violinist Chee-Yun kicks off Key West Symphony’s Master Concert series.
Join the Key West Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 3 to kick off the sizzling season with the much-anticipated Sextet on the Beach gala. From 5 to 7:30 p.m., the sounds of the Symphony will take over the Southernmost Beach Café overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy a fun and light-hearted evening filled with hors d’oeuvres, “cello” shots, raffles, prizes and more. This is your chance to meet the musicians and get a true taste of the Symphony. Tickets are $25 per person in advance; $35 per person at the door and are available at www.keystix.com or by calling 305-295-7676.
Then, sit back and enjoy the magic of Chee-Yun on Oct. 6. The curtain will rise with Brahms’ euphoric yet classically balanced “Academic Festival Overture,” a boisterous potpourri of student drinking songs a la Suppe. Next, marvel at one of the loftiest and liveliest movements in the history of music with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Finally, experience the stirring finale of Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” a musical characterization of turn-of-the-century society.
The former Korean Times Competition Grand Prize winner has performed with some of the world’s foremost orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, Haifa Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Germany’s Braunschweig Orchestra among many others. “Serenata Notturno” (2008), her album of light classics went platinum within six months of its release.
Following hot on the heels of Chee-Yun’s performance, the Key West Symphony will continue to delight and enthrall with plans for limited edition recordings, upcoming
performances by some of the genre’s largest superstars, spectacular special events and more.
This year, the Key West Symphony is honored to have been selected by Miami’s own Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taafe Zwilich to showcase the extraordinary
selections, “Septet for Piano Trio and String Quartet” and “Symphony No. 5” (Concerto for Orchestra), a celebration of and memorial to composers silenced by politics and war. The latter selection will be recorded at the $200 million, state-of-the-art New World Symphony’s new campus designed by famous architect Frank Gehry and will be released on the NAXOS label, just in time for summer. The Key West Symphony will effectively also hold the honor of being one of the very first orchestras to record at this global hub designed especially for creative expression and collaboration.
South Florida Symphony – The Key West Symphony Orchestra offers a stellar line-up for its new season.
The Key West Symphony Orchestra offers a stellar line-up for its new season.
On Dec. 1 at 8 p.m., catch the Symphony’s Master Concert Series II’s solo violinist Lara St. John and on Jan. 28 at 8 p.m., get set to be enchanted by Tchaikovsky
International Piano Competition winner Barry Douglas as he joins Maestra Sebrina María Alfonso leading the award-winning Key West Symphony full orchestra.
Also on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m., the Symphony invites the public to “Vines & Violins: A Very Special Evening of Wine and Music,” part of the Key West Food & Wine Festival.
Then, at 7 p.m., guests will be transported via a scenic jaunt to the Tennessee Williams Theatre for the Barry Douglas performance.
Master Concert Series IV will feature the SIMA Trio, one of the leading young trios of its generation praised for powerful and heartfelt interpretations of classical and ethnic repertoire, on March 2 at 8 p.m.
Master Concert Series V featuring prodigal pianist Adam Golka will be the grand finale on April 29 at 8 p.m.
Aspiring to bring the awe and inspiration of classical music to a greater part of the region, critically acclaimed Alfonso, collectively with dedicated arts patrons, launched the Key West Symphony Orchestra 13 seasons ago. Since then, she and her superlative musicians have been dazzling music enthusiasts of all ages with a mastery of the auditory art form.
The Symphony has been described as hot and incredible by its orchestral contemporaries and audiences while Alfonso has been described as a dynamic, commanding maestra by New York reviewers. The San Jose Mercury News quotes Alfonso’s refined style as reminiscent of past grandeur, “Alfonso …ushered her audience into chambers of fantasy, imagery and feeling — elements essential to fine music-making. This is the way conducting used to be.”
South Florida Symphony – The Key West Symphony Orchestra offers a stellar line-up for its new season.
Maestra Sebrina Maria Alfonso conducts during a performance last season.
Tickets for the Key West Symphony Orchestra’s Master Concert Series individual shows are priced from $25 to $60. Tickets for the shows and special events are available
at www.keystix.com or at the Tennessee Williams box office by calling 305-296-7575. For additional information, sponsorship opportunities or tickets, call the Key West
Symphony at 305-292-1774 or visit www.southfloridasymphony.org.
