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Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu


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UW Symphony Orchestra Opens Fall Season Oct. 19

October 17, 2017
photos of Michael Griffith and Blake McGee

“A Season of Joy” is the theme for this year’s University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra season, which begins Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.

Tickets for the first concert cost $10 for the public, $7 for seniors and $6 for students. Tickets are available at the Performing Arts box office and the Wyoming Union information desk, by calling (307) 766-6666 or by going online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.

"Many people are so discouraged these days," says longtime UW Symphony Orchestra Conductor Michael Griffith. "The state is dealing with budget cuts. Political tension is as thick as I can remember. So, I wanted to lead concerts that will bring joy into people's lives. Not silly-happy music, but uplifting music, so people feel good at the end of the evening."

Griffith has selected the major work of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, the “Pastoral Symphony,” as the opening night’s showpiece.

“Beethoven was exhausted after writing his monumental Fifth. He retreated to the country to recover, but kept composing: a working vacation,” Griffith says. “The Sixth is the result, a wonderful work whose opening movement is even titled ‘Joyful feelings on arriving in the country.’ Other movements describe a forest brook, a country dance, a thunderstorm and a shepherd's peaceful feelings after the storm has passed.”

Three shorter works fill the first half. Arturo Márquez's Danzón No. 2 is a new work with a Mexican-Cuban flavor. Aaron Copland’s jazz-inflected “Clarinet Concerto” was written for big-band clarinetist Benny Goodman. And Johann Strauss's “Fledermaus Overture” opens the evening.

Soloist for the Copland piece is UW Department of Music faculty clarinetist Blake McGee. A native of the West Coast, McGee has performed as a member of the Portland Opera, Vancouver Symphony and Oregon Mozart Players.

He currently is principal clarinet of the Wyoming Symphony of Casper. An active chamber musician, McGee performs regularly with the Wyoming Reed Trio, the Wu-McGee Duo and as a member of Lights Along the Shore, a trio specializing in original works and arrangements of eclectic music from around the world. He also tours annually throughout the country as a recitalist and clinician.

For more information, call Griffith at (307) 766-3069 or email symph@uwyo.edu.

Contact Us

Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu


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