Music director finalist Passmore to conduct concert Sunday
The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association — in partnership with First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge, 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike — will present its fourth music director finalist, Ian Passmore, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, in his concert, “Family Meeting!: A Musical Time Machine,” featuring the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Special guest artist Clare Longendyke will perform Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s “Peanuts Gallery” piano concerto.
Tickets are available online at https://orcma.org, at the door, or by calling (865) 483-5569. Adult $30; Young Adult $10. There is no admission charge for youths 18 and younger, and 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.Via video, Passmore said, “I am thrilled to be a candidate for music director of your Oak Ridge Symphony! I want to personally invite you to our concert. This family-friendly program will introduce you to every section of the Oak Ridge Symphony and Chorus, as well as to my friend and rock-star pianist Clare Longendyke. We’ll be performing a variety of music by composers ranging from the late 1500s through the present. And as we make our way through the program, we’ll learn more about why each piece sounds the way that it does. We can’t wait to share this experience with you, your family and your friends. See you there!”Hailed as “a rising young conductor” by Fanfare Magazine, Passmore’s unapologetically romantic renderings of the standard repertoire harken back to a bygone generation of conductors, according to a news release. Following two seasons as the Omaha Symphony’s assistant conductor, the orchestra named Ian their associate conductor in 2019— a position never before created in its 100-year history. He made his Masterworks debut with them in February 2020, with a program featuring the works of Bernstein, Bruch, and Brahms. Ian has also appeared with the orchestras of Kansas City, Buffalo, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Lincoln, Greensboro, and Hanoi (Vietnam). His commitment to music education sees him frequently leading honors orchestras, bands, and in-class workshops around the country.
Longendyke’s appeal has earned her performances as a featured soloist in notable concert series including The University of Chicago Presents, National Public Radio’s Performance Today, the Fazioli Piano Series in Los Angeles, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ SoundBites Series. She has also performed at renowned festivals, including the Alba Music Festival of Italy, the European American Musical Alliance of France, the New Music on the Point Festival, and the Mostly Modern Festival. Her debut solo CD featuring works by Claude Debussy, Amy Williams, and Anthony R. Green is in progress and set for release in 2023.In addition to Zwilich’s “Peanuts Gallery,” the concert includes Lloyd Pfautsch’s "Musicks Empire," Giovanni Gabrieli’s "Sonata pian'e forte," Max Reger’s "Serenade for Winds in B-flat," and Edward Elgar’s "Serenade for Strings in E minor."
"The program ends with one of the most thrilling "barn-burners" in the entire orchestral repertoire — Haydn’s 88th Symphony,” wrote Passmore in a description of the concert.
Following the concert, 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.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Music director finalist Passmore to conduct concert Sunday
