Idaho State-Civic Symphony to present Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony April 29-30; Season finale features guest vocalists, Camerata Singers, ISU Concert Choir

POCATELLO – The Idaho State-Civic Symphony season finale concert will feature the Camerata Singers, the ISU Concert Choir and four guest vocalists performing Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” at 7:30 p.m. April 29 and 30 at the Stephens Performing Arts Center Jensen Grand Concert Hall.

Conductors Grant Harville and Scott Anderson have chosen to bring the concert season to a close with this single work, which will be performed without intermission.

Countless reams of paper and gallons of ink have been consumed over nearly two centuries in doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, articles, books, essays and program notes, wrestling over intricacies, genius and audacity of the work and the use of Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’ in the final movement.

The guest artists for the final concert are:

• Carolina Castells, soprano, has received among other awards, the 2008 Grand Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a 2011 recipient of the Shoshana Foundation’s Richard F. Gold Career grant and a 2015 Finalist for the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition.
• Kimberly James, mezzo-soprano, returns to our stage, having previously performed here in last season’s Verdi “Requiem.” She holds advanced music degrees from Rice University and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.    
• Cullen Gandy, tenor, received his bachelor's degree in music from Georgia State University, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School. He holds prizes from the Licia Albanese-Puccini IVC; The Opera Foundation Competition; and was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council’s Eastern Region in 2012.
• Paul Max Tipton, baritone, trained on full fellowship at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor. He is a 2010 graduate of the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music in Oratorio and Early Music, and was made a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music in 2012.

The Friday, April 29, concert will include a pre-concert discussion by Harville, symphony conductor and artistic director, at 6:30 p.m. in the Stephens Center Marshall Rotunda.

Beverages, desserts and snack plates will be available for purchase in the Rotunda at 7 p.m. both nights.

The finale concert will kick off the Idaho State-Civic Symphony’s 2016-17 season ticket campaign. Prior to each concert, symphony association board members will staff a season ticket campaign table at which new season brochures and ticket-order forms will be available.

Hirning GMC and D.L. Evans Bank are concert sponsors.

Ticket prices range from $12 to $34. They can be purchased at the ISU Box Office in-person or over the phone at 282-3595 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and beginning at 6 p.m. on show nights. They are also available at Vickers Western Store, 1460 Yellowstone (237-5700) and online. All prices are subject to additional box office fees and credit card charges. ISU students with valid Bengal ID are admitted free.

More information on the symphony is available online at www.thesymphony.us.