The final concert of the 2013-2014 Peoria Symphony Orchestra (PSO) season is a special matinee on Sunday, May 11, 2014, 3:00 pm, at the Peoria Civic Center Theater. The concert will include guest artists, mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen, and hornist Jeff Nelsen and conducted by Music Director George Stelluto.
As the Peoria Symphony Orchestra ends its 116th season Music Director George Stelluto said, “The PSO continues the tradition of artistic excellence and excitement the community has come to expect. Both our programming and guest artists are without peer. In a sense, the first half is a musical bouquet presented to all mothers. Nina and Jeff had their first child shortly before her debut with the PSO four years ago. So, it’s wonderful to celebrate the day with them. The Dvorak is taken from my first concert over five years ago with the PSO. Its romantic, bucolic qualities remind me of spring and the countryside of both Prague and Peoria.” The music selected for the Mother’s Day concert includes romantic, classical, and popular music from composers Mozart, Bizet, Saint Saёns, and Dvorak.
Married couple, Nina Yoshida Nelsen and Jeff Nelsen, returning as musical guest artists, have multi-generational appeal. Mr. Nelsen, an acclaimed international hornist, is not only a teacher, mentor, writer and solo performer; he is also a trainer and has given TEDx Talks on “Fearless Performance.” Mr. Nelsen will be featured on Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2 which is virtuosic and warm and Ms. Nelsen will sing the sultry Habanera from Carmen along with a selected aria from Samson and Delilah. Ms. Nelsen has been hailed as a “rich voiced, expressive mezzo-soprano” by San Francisco Voice and “appealingly direct and honest in tone and bearing,” by the Boston
Globe. The Mother’s Day concert ends with Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 which is Dvorak’s most bucolic and idyllic symphony.
This concert was specifically scheduled on Mother’s Day afternoon as an opportunity for families to spend time together. The concert is a great way to honor mothers everywhere with beautiful symphonic music.
Nina Yoshida Nelsen Jeff Nelsen George Stelluto Tickets start at $26 for adults and $11 for students and are available by calling the PSO Box Office, at 309.671.1096, online at www.peoriasymphony.org or visiting the Box Office at 101 State Street in the WTVP
building downtown Peoria.
Established in 1897 and recognized as the 14th oldest symphony orchestra in the U.S., the PSO launched a new era with a move to Peoria’s riverfront warehouse district, bridging its status as Central Illinois’ venerable orchestra with a future in the region’s most innovative business and cultural district.