Auburn Symphony’s new music director Wesley Schulz begins his tenure with the orchestra with the fall concert, Pines of Rome, on Sunday, Oct. 14.
The concert begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Auburn Performing Arts Center, 702 4th St. NE.
The orchestra will open the Schulz era in epic fashion by filling the concert hall with extra musicians, including additional brass players from local high schools for the pieces, Pines of Rome, a four-movement symphonic poem for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, and Fountains of Rome, Respighi’s symphonic poem written in 1916 and first published in 1918.
Randall Goosby, a renowned young soloist, will perform the captivating Concerto for Violin by Erich Korngold. Goosby, who won the annual Sphinx Concerto Competition in 2010 at age 13 and has studied violin since age 7, has performed with top orchestras throughout the world.
Schulz succeeds Stewart Kershaw, ASO’s founder and longtime music director and conductor, who retired in 2015. Schulz previously performed as the associate conductor of the North Carolina Symphony.
As the 2014-2015 Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s Conducting Fellow, Schulz made his Benaroya Hall debut in a sold-out performance with singer/songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov, served as cover conductor for Maestro Ludovic Morlot, led seven world premieres at the Merriman Family Young Composers Workshop and helped with recordings for the symphony’s Grammy-winning label, Seattle Symphony Media.
Schulz was a frequent guest of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, for which he developed and conducted family and education concerts that reached more than 15,000 youth every year. Schulz previously served as music director and conductor of the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Festival Orchestra, and he was director of orchestras at the University of Puget Sound.
A free pre-concert lecture with KING FM’s Dave Beck begins at 1:45 p.m. A reception with light refreshments in honor of Schulz immediately follows the program.
Tickets are $37 general, $30 senior, $10 student. Call 253-887-7777 to order or purchase online at auburnsymphony.org by noon Oct. 12. Walk-up purchases are available at the box office beginning at 1:30 p.m.
