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The Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra (YSO) is planning a very special season finale for its 2011-12 season, featuring violinist and Sphinx Laureate Gareth Johnson. Gareth will perform with the YSO using a rare Stradivari violin on loan from the collections of The Henry Ford (THF). The concert is scheduled for April 29, 2012 at Eastern Michigan University’s Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Stradivari (1644-1737) is widely regarded to be the finest violin maker in history. He produced only about 1,100 violins in his lifetime, of which approximately 500 are still accounted for today. Most of these instruments are in the hands of world-famous violinists, or public or private collections. With this 2012 season finale, the YSO is being given the exciting opportunity to present one of these beautiful instruments in concert.
The YSO has partnered with the nationally recognized Sphinx Organization since 2007 by featuring Sphinx Competition winner at one of its concerts each year. The Sphinx Organization, founded in 1996 by Aaron P. Dworkin, is dedicated to building diversity in classical music. Its annual competition features talented young African-American and Latino musicians from the United States.
This season the YSO builds on its collaboration with Sphinx by adding THF as a new partner. In an effort to provide greater access to its classical violin collection, THF approached the YSO last spring with the idea of allowing the Sphinx Laureate to play a historic Stradivari violin made in Cremona Italy in 1709. As part of a weekend of activities, the Sphinx Laureate will also perform a master class for music students at Eastern Michigan University, perform in one or more elementary schools in the Ypsilanti area, and at the museum’s Henry Ford Academy high school in Dearborn, Michigan.
Tickets for this very special event will only be available through the EMU Convocation Center box office, either in person or on-line at http://www.emich.edu/convocation/emu-convocation-center-information.html.
During Memorial Day Weekend in 2012, the YSO will celebrate a milestone with its fifth annual free pops concert in Riverside Park. This extremely popular performance regularly draws an audience of over 500, to sit by the banks of the Huron River, hear great music from their community orchestra, and kickoff the unofficial beginning of summer with their family and friends. TheWashtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commissionhas been an invaluable partner for the YSO with their sponsorship and coordination of this event. The YSO has received many enthusiastic comments from audience members, who have thoroughly enjoyed the music, the venue, and the community atmosphere of this delightful occasion.
The concert is scheduled for Saturday, May 26, 2012, at 2 p.m. The location will be Ypsilanti Riverside Park’s picnic shell. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the show!
