The Fort Collins Symphony to Perform Signature Concert 2: “Energized, Unsure and Triumphant”

The award-winning Fort Collins Symphony (FCS), under the baton of Maestro Wes Kenney, will perform a concert of Classical, Romantic, and contemporary music at 7:30 PM on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at the Fort Collins Lincoln Center. The Symphony’s Signature Concert 2–Energized, Unsure and Triumphant–features three composers who explore an assortment of emotions ranging from despair to exhilaration. Contemporary composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson challenges us with uncertainty in his interpretation of Carl Sandburg’s metaphorical poem, Grass. Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn’s exuberant romp in Piano Concerto No. 1 was quickly composed after a memorable trip to Italy. Finally, Ludwig van Beethoven creatively wove together elements from the Classical, Baroque, and Romantic eras. His Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” (Heroic) explores the emotional landscapes of war with its complexities of helplessness, grief, tenderness, and triumph. Today, “Eroica” is one of Beethoven’s most celebrated works. The internationally acclaimed pianist, Bryan Wallick, joins the FCS as the concert’s guest artist.

In honor of Veterans Day, special $10 in-person, streaming, and/or webcast tickets are available to veterans and active military personnel. Please call the Lincoln Center Box Office for ticket details and purchase at 970-221-6730.

Guest artist Bryan Wallick, the gold medalist of the 1997 Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev, Ukraine, is an internationally acclaimed pianist.  He and his colleagues Frank Stadler and Peter Martens won the kykNET award for Best Achievement in Classical Music at the South Africa 2021 Fiëstas for their performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Wallick made his New York recital debut in 1998 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and his Wigmore Hall recital debut in London in 2003.  He has performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Sinfonietta and at the St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church with the London Soloist’s Chamber Orchestra, given solo recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Colorado State University, Grand Teton Music Festival, El Paso’s University of Texas, Arizona’s Scottsdale Center, and throughout South Africa and Zimbabwe. In addition, Wallick has performed as concerto soloist with the Memphis Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, Portland Symphony, and Winston-Salem Symphony. He studied with Jerome Lowenthal in New York City where he was the first Juilliard School graduate to receive both an undergraduate Honors Diploma (2000) and an accelerated master’s Degree (2001). He studied with Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and with Christopher Elton at London’s Royal Academy of Music where he was the recipient of the Associated Board International Scholarship and received a Post-graduate Diploma with Distinction. Wallick is an assistant professor of piano at Colorado State University.

For educational information about the concert, please: Visit www.FCSymphony.org for concert program notes by Dr. Dawn Grapes and Dr. William E. Runyan. Free. Tune into Maestro Kenney’s World of Symphonic Music at 7 p.m. on Sundays at KRFC 88.9 FM Radio Fort Collins 88.9 FM. Free. Attend Dr. Dawn Grapes’ Composer Talk via Zoom at noon on Wednesday, November 3, 2021.  Zoom:  883 8023 7467 (Meeting ID), 800887 (Passcode). Free. Join the FCS at Open Rehearsal in-person at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 4, 2021 at the Lincoln Center. Free. (Masks required). Listen to Maestro’s Musings in-person or live stream at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at the Lincoln Center (with the purchase of a concert ticket). Masks are required for the n-person event.

With the rise in COVID-19 cases, we strongly urge those attending concerts to be fully vaccinated.  Per the Larimer County mask mandate, the FCS requires all audience members, musicians, and staff —including those who are fully vaccinated––to wear masks indoors (properly covering mouth and nose) at all times while attending Symphony events. Masks will be provided to those who arrive without them.  If you are unable or unwilling to wear a mask or are unwell on the day of the concert, please do not attend an in-person FCS performance. Concert live streams and webcasts are available through the Lincoln Center Box Office: LCTix.com