Symphony Orchestra Concert featuring the Magic of Mozart
Published: February 21, 2012 | Read Time: 3 minutes
The magic of Mozart and two pianists weaving a spell with one of the master’s classic compositions. The Department of Music’s Masterworks series presents SUU’s Symphony Orchestra in concert on Monday, February 27, 2012. Directed by Professor Xun Sun, the concert will take place at Cedar City’s Heritage Center Theater. The program will begin at 7:30pm. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for SUU Faculty and Staff, $4 for students and youth and SUU students are free with a valid ID.
The highlight of the concert will be a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto for Two Pianos featuring Dr. Christian Bohnenstengel, SUU Assistant Professor of Piano, and Dr. Willem van Schalkwyk, SUU music faculty. The evening’s program will also include A Musical Joke by Mozart, and works by Vaughan Williams and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Professor Xun Sun serves as Director of Orchestral Activities and Strings at Southern Utah University. He has continually broadened his professional career as an international orchestral conductor, most recently conducting the world premiere of the dance drama Dream of Helen with Hubei Opera and Dance Drama Theatre of China. He conducted the world renowned China Philharmonic Orchestra in recording a new CD of the Spanish Trail Suite, music by American composers Marshall McDonald and Steve Nelson. In 2007, he was invited to conduct the Lviv Philharmonic in the 8th International Contemporary Music Festival in Ukraine. Mr. Sun successfully conducted the operas Susanna by Carlisle Floyd, Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Professor Sun has served as the Music Director/Conductor of the Orchestra of Southern Utah since 2003. Mr. Sun has made many appearances over the years in concert series and educational programs.
Dr. Christian Bohnenstengel received his Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in piano performance from Missouri Western State University, and received Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received UNL Hixson-Lied travel grants to study with Christoph Lieske at the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Salzburg during the summer of 2005 and to study and perform at the Ameropa Chamber Music Festival in Prague in 2006. Dr. Bohnenstengel has received numerous honors, awards and prizes, including various placements in the Missouri Music Teachers Association Collegiate Honors Auditions in piano and organ and the Nebraska division of the MTNA Young Artist Performance Competition. His concert schedule has taken him to three continents, including recitals with flutists John Bailey and Javier Montilla in Venezuela and performances at the annual Sommernachtsmusik in Moegglingen, Germany.
A gold medalist and prize winner in several national and international competitions, Namibian pianist Dr. Willem van Schalkwyk has appeared in Africa as soloist with such orchestras as the Namibia National Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Symphony, and Johannesburg Symphony, and in the United States with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the National Music Camp in Interlochen. He has also been heard as recitalist in Austria, France, South Africa, Namibia, and the United States. Born in South Africa, Van Schalkwyk received early piano instruction with Valerie van Biljon at the Namibia College of the Arts, where he was awarded the Prize of Excellence in 1998. Later study followed in the United States with Irene Peery-Fox at Brigham Young University, and with Joseph Banowetz at the University of North Texas.
This concert promises to be created to an unforgettable musical evening. Get your tickets now.
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