Music director finalist Lin to lead orchestra & chorus on Oct. 30

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association – in partnership with First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge – will present its third music director finalist, Wilbur Lin, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, in his concert, “You Have Not Seen a Brighter Sky,” featuring the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra & Chorus.

Special guest artist NaGuanda Nobles will sing Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Komm Hoffnung” from the opera Fidelio and Nkeiru Okoye’s “I am Moses” from Songs of Harriet Tubman.

Music director finalists:ORCMA music director finalists will lead concerts this fall

Tickets are $30, or $10 for young adults, and free for ages 18 and under. They are available online at https://orcma.org, at the door, or by calling (865) 483-5569. Each youth who attends each of the four music director concerts this fall may request a free metronome to further their interest in music. Additional information will be available at the box office. Maestro Lin writes, “We are going to perform music across five centuries that not only share a common theme of love for music, but more importantly an artistic spirit that speaks up for those who are suffering – from love, from misfortune, from injustice, and from imprisonment of the mind and the body.” “I’m excited to introduce NaGuanda to the Oak Ridge audience!” writes Lin. Nobles, a soprano, has made her mark on the concert and operatic stages across the world. Most recently, she was a soloist in a 2022 concert by the London Symphony Orchestra led by celebrated choral composer André Thomas (whose Mass: A celebration of love and joy will be performed by the combined Oak Ridge Chorus and Roane Choral Society in March 2023).

Closer to home, Nobles was a soloist in the Nashville Symphony’s 2022 Let Freedom Sing concert. Her many other performances include the Pittsburgh Opera, Atlanta Opera, and the Boston Symphony under the direction of Kurt Masur.The Oct. 30 concert also includes Claudio Monteverdi’s Sfogava con le stelle, John Blow’s Sing, Sing Ye Muses, Mary Howe’s Stars, and Sand, George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony Op. 100a. Audience members are invited to express their opinions on the music director finalists and their programming. Surveys may be completed online at https://orcma.org.The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is a 501(c)(3) presenting organization dedicated to enriching lives throughout the community and supporting local musicians and composers through the performance of a diverse and inclusive range of orchestral, choral, and chamber music in its many forms. The association is funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission & TN Specialty Plates. ORCMA thanks its numerous individual donors and corporate sponsors for their support.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Oak Ridge orchestra director finalist Wilbur Lin to lead concert