MasterWorks II: Star Wars and Its Influences


Saturday, October 26th, 2024 | 3:00pm

Umstattd Hall | Zimmermann Symphony Center
2331 17th St. NW
Canton, OH 44708

TICKETS

$12 / $27 / $37 / $52
All tickets, excluding children and students, are subject to a $3 processing fee.
Student Tickets (18+ with ID): FREE
Children 17 and under: FREE

Veterans, First Responders, Healthcare Workers, & Educators: 20% off
SNAP & Medicaid Recipients: 20% off
* Children’s and Student tickets available over the phone or at the box office day of show with ID*
Box Office: 330-452-2094
boxoffice@cantonsymphony.org

DESCRIPTION

This concert will be conducted by CSO Music Director, Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz.

Don your Darth Vader mask, zip up your wookie suit, and clip on your stormtrooper helmet for this costumes-encouraged presentation of the Star Wars Suite! Our 2024-2025 Family Concert will surely delight audiences of all ages, as John Williams’ incomparable score has done for generations of fans over nearly fifty years. The first half of the concert will feature music that inspired John Williams to create the most beloved film music in history. Fans will instantly recognize elements of the main title theme in Korngold’s Kings Row Suite and Saint-Saёns’ Piano Concerto No. 2, while the menacing Imperial March takes after Mars from Holst’s The Planets. The battle scenes can be heard in Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which was also made famous for its use in Disney’s Fantasia. With discounted ticket prices for families, and a family-friendly start time of 3:00 PM, the force will be with fans young and old at this can’t-miss afternoon!

PROGRAM

KINGS ROW SUITE……………………………………………………………………………..Erich Wolfgang Korngold
THE PLANETS: MARS………………………………………………………………………………………………Gustav Holst

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2, II………………………………………………………………………….Camille Saint-Saens
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS…………………………………………………………………….Nancy Bloomer Deussen
THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE………………………………………………………………………………..Paul D
ukas
Intermission
STAR WARS SUITE……………………………………………………………………………………………….John Williams

Pre-Concert Lecture

There will be a pre-concert lecture prior to this concert at 2:00pm in Foundation Hall.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Dean Zhang

A dynamic and versatile pianist, Dean Zhang appears internationally in critically acclaimed performances.  He has been praised by The Miami Herald as “a powerful keyboard player” with a “smooth, fluid touch at the keyboard, bringing maximum expressiveness.”  Dr. Zhang has performed as a concerto soloist with the Canton Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, New World Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony, Tucson Symphony, and is the laureate of numerous competitions.

As former principal keyboardist for the Omaha Symphony, Dr. Zhang performed with the orchestra in more than 200 concerts and presentations during the 2015–2016 season.  He was a piano fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, and was invited for two summers as principal keyboardist with the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado.  In addition to his achievement in piano performance, Dr. Zhang is an accomplished organist and was featured with the New World Symphony as the organ soloist in Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3.  Dr. Zhang joined the Tucson Symphony Orchestra as principal keyboard in 2018 and currently holds the same position with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Canton Symphony Orchestra.

After two years of studying management science at Shanghai University, Dr. Zhang was granted a full scholarship at the University of Wyoming where he received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees as a student of Dr. Theresa Bogard.  Under the tutelage of Paul Schenly and Kathryn Brown, he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Dr. Zhang also studied extensively with Joela Jones, former principal keyboardist of The Cleveland Orchestra.  He splits his time in Tucson, Arizona, and Cleveland, Ohio, with his husband, clarinetist Ben Chen.  They perform together nationwide as the Edgewater Duo.

Composer Spotlights

korngold

Erich wolfgang Korngold

holst

Gustav Holst

Saint-Saens.jpg

camille saint-Saens

deussen.jpg

Nancy Bloomer Deussen

dukas.jpg

Paul Dukas

williams

John Willams

This concert is supported by:

Presenting Sponser