FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 18, 2023
Madison Symphony Orchestra Presents “Monumental Moments” on October 20, 22 & 23, in Overture Hall Featuring Bernstein, Shostakovich and Brahms
Associate Conductor Kyle Knox leads the orchestra, Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz is soloist
Madison, Wis. – The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) continues its 2023-2024 season with “Monumental Moments” in Overture Hall on October 20, 21 and 23, 2023. Associate Conductor Kyle Knox makes his MSO subscription concert debut with Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz as soloist for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 in A minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77(99). The program opens with Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Variations from “Fancy Free” and closes with the Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 by Johannes Brahms, (orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg).
“We begin with Leonard Bernstein, who was a major influence on Music Director John DeMain’s early life and career,” Kyle Knox shared. “Bernstein had a knack for bringing lighthearted populism into the concert hall. Though written in the late 1940s, Shostakovich’s first concerto makes use of traditional musical forms, including a famous Passacaglia, favored by composers like Bach 200 years earlier. Feared by violinists and loved by audiences, it was a hit from the day it was written and is one of the true masterpieces of the solo violin repertoire. The final work is Brahms’ G minor Piano Quartet, orchestrated by Schoenberg. These will be the MSO’s first ever performances of this remarkable work. Schoenberg took Brahms’ chamber work and transformed it into a kaleidoscope of 20th-century orchestral color, giving virtually every instrument the spotlight.”
Symphony Concert, Ticket and Event Details
Three performances of the “Monumental Moments” concerts will take place Friday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 22 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2:30 p.m. More information is found at https://madisonsymphony.org/about/monumental
Single tickets are on sale now through the Overture Center Box office ($15-$102). Tickets can be purchased online at overture.org, in-person or by phone by calling (608) 258-4141 during Box Office hours. $15 student rush tickets may be purchased beginning the Friday of the concert weekend through the performance time on each day at the Overture Box Office. Note that fees apply to online and phone orders. No fees for in-person purchase at the Overture Box Office, 201 State Street.
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. The Symphony recommends concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations. All ticket holders are welcome to attend a free half-hour pre-concert talk one hour before each performance by Kyle Knox in Overture Hall.
Drinks are now allowed in Overture Hall
As of this season, drinks are allowed inside Overture Hall during all Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts and Overture Concert Organ performances. Refreshments may be purchased at bars and concession stands located around the Overture Hall lobby before each concert and during intermission. Please enjoy food in the lobby and unwrap any candy or cough drops before the performance begins.
Health & Safety Precautions
Masks and proof of COVID-19 vaccination are not currently required to enter Overture Center for the Arts. More information about the many safety protocols can be found at overture.org/health, and madisonsymphony.org/health.
About Kyle Knox
In the fall of 2018, Kyle Knox assumed the positions of Music Director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and Associate Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Recent past and upcoming conducting credits include the Milwaukee Symphony (on both their Family and Connections concert series), the Madison Symphony’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra productions of Beyond the Score® (including Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4), their full annual Education Series (including their Fall and Spring Youth Concerts, Community Concerts, Symphony Soup, and the Final Forte), as well as Concert on the Green. In works for the stage, Kyle led Mark Adamo’s Little Women for Madison Opera, and later helped coordinate a studio artist showcase in the first ever collaboration between that company and WYSO. Other stage credits include Albert Herring, The Turn of the Screw, and Transformations with UW Opera, as well as Die Fledermaus, The Gondoliers and H.M.S. Pinafore with Madison Savoyards. Additionally he has conducted UW Music Clinic’s High School Honors Orchestra.
He was formerly a clarinetist with the Milwaukee Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and Philadelphia Orchestras, and on faculty at UW–Milwaukee. His festival credits include Tanglewood, Spoleto (Italy), Santa Fe Chamber Music, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festivals, as well as the New York String Orchestra Seminar. He has recorded for the Koch and Naxos labels and has been featured numerous times on NPR’s Performance Today.
Kyle has premiered works by Osvaldo Golijov, Tan Dun, Sean Shepherd, Huang Ruo, and Jonathan Leshnoff, among many others. Nico Muhly’s chamber work Service Music (2004) was written for and dedicated to him. His debut album, a recording of Conrad Susa’s chamber opera Transformations (the work’s world premiere recording) was recently released on Spotify.
About Naha Greenholtz
Canadian violinist Naha Greenholtz was born in Kyoto, Japan, where she began her violin studies at age three. Since her solo debut at 14, concerto performances have included engagements with the San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and National Repertory Orchestras, as well as the Vancouver, Quad City, Burnaby, and Kelowna Symphonies. In the Madison area she makes regular solo appearances with the Madison Symphony and the Middleton Community Orchestra.
Naha also maintains an active career as an orchestra musician. In addition to her duties as Concertmaster of both the Madison and Quad City Symphony Orchestras, past performance highlights include guest concertmaster appearances with the Oregon, Omaha, and Memphis Symphonies, the San Francisco Ballet, as well as the Calgary and Louisiana Philharmonics, among many others.
In 2019, she appeared as guest concertmaster with the Chicago Philharmonic (in collaboration with the English National Ballet) and will make her Australian debut in a concertmaster residency with the Australian Ballet in Melbourne. From 2011-2014, she maintained a partnership with the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto, performing and touring frequently with the company as guest concertmaster and soloist. Additionally, she has performed often with the Cleveland Orchestra both domestically and abroad. She began her career in 2007-2008 with the Louisiana Philharmonic and later with the Milwaukee Symphony.
Naha has participated in music festivals throughout the US and Europe including Kneisel Hall (Maine), Taos (New Mexico), Spoleto (Italy), Lucerne (Switzerland), Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society (Wisconsin), and the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall. She was on artist faculty at Renova Music Festival (Newcastle, Pennsylvania) and since 2012 she has been Artistic Director of Davenport, Iowa’s Signature Series.
About the Madison Symphony Orchestra
The Madison Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 98th season in 2023–2024. The MSO has grown to be one of America’s leading regional orchestras, providing Madison and south-central Wisconsin with cultural and educational opportunities to interact with great symphonic repertoire and top-tier guest artists from around the world. 2023–2024 is Music Director John DeMain’s 30th anniversary season. The MSO’s 100th anniversary season celebration will take place during the 2025–2026 season. Learn more at madisonsymphony.org
Presenting sponsorship for “Monumental Moments” is provided by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. Major sponsorship provided by Diane Ballweg, Scott and Janet Cabot, Madison Symphony Orchestra League, and University Research Park. Additional funding is provided by Robert Benjamin and John Fields, Joan Johnston, Ann Lindsey, in memory of Chuck Snowdon, Barbara J. Merz, John and Twila Sheskey Charitable Fund, and Wisconsin Arts Board.
Contact: Peter Rodgers, Director of Marketing
Phone: (608) 260-8680 x226
Mobile: (415) 713-0235
Email: prodgers@madisonsymphony.org
Web: madisonsymphony.org
Link to 23-24 symphony season photos: https://bit.ly/mso23-24symphonyphotos
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