UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Respighi's symphonic poem "Fountains of Rome" in its final concert of the 2015-16 school year at 8 p.m. on Monday, April 25, in Eisenhower Auditorium. The program also includes Elgar's "Enigma Variations" and movements from the Lukas Foss "Oboe Concerto" with graduate student Joseph Wenda, a 2015 Philharmonic Concerto Competition winner. The Philharmonic is directed by guest conductor Teresa Cheung, assisted by Benjamin Firer.
Tickets are $12 for general admission and $4 for students. Tickets purchased in advance for School of Music concerts in Eisenhower Auditorium are eligible for a 40 percent discount. There is no limit on the number of tickets that may be purchased. Purchases made the day of the concert are not eligible for the discount. Tickets are available at any Arts Ticket Center location, by phone at 814-863-0255 or 1-800-ARTS-TIX, or online at Penn State Arts Ticket Center. This concert will also be available via livestream video on the Penn State School of Music website.
Program
Fountains of Rome — Ottorino Respighi (Benjamin Firer, conductor)Andante and Moderato-Allegro (from "Oboe Concerto") — Lukas Foss (Joseph Wenda, oboe)Enigma Variations — Edward Elgar
Joseph Wenda completed his bachelor’s degree in oboe performance at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, where he was a student of Brent Hages. He is currently a master's student and a teaching assistant at Penn State, studying with Penn State faculty member Timothy Hurtz. As an active oboist, composer and educator based in State College, he teaches oboe lessons at Bloomsburg University and Juniata College, as well as an oboe methods class for Penn State. For the last two years, he has been a member of Penn State's graduate woodwind quintet, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and other local ensembles.
The 2015-16 season marks Teresa Cheung’s eighth season as the music director and conductor of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, as well as the resident conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City. Since 2004, she has been the assistant conductor for the Bard Music Festival and SummerScape, serving as rehearsal conductor for their opera and concert productions. Some of the most outstanding examples of her work include the 2010’s highly acclaimed U.S. premiere of Franz Schreker’s "Der ferne Klang," the first U.S. fully-staged production of Robert Schumann’s "Genoveva" in 2006, and the 2004 production of Mark Blitzstein’s "Regina." Cheung was appointed orchestra conductor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2012. She began her career as resident conductor for the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, where she was also conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Evansville Philharmonic Chorus. Amongst her many initiatives, she led the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra on its first international concert tour to Japan in 2002. A native of Hong Kong, Cheung earned her master’s degree in conducting from the Eastman School of Music. She is a recipient of the JoAnn Falletta Conducting Award for the most promising female conductors.
The 90-member Philharmonic presents five to six full concerts per academic year. Off campus, the Philharmonic has performed throughout the northeastern United States, including concerts at New York City's Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and the MENC Eastern Division Conference in Baltimore. In March 2006, the orchestra participated by invitation in the Sixth International Orchestra Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. The Philharmonic’s repertoire from recent years has included works by Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, Rachmaninoff and Wagner. Enrollment, open to all University Park students, is by audition at the beginning of each semester.