SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra's 100th anniversary season will offer a variety of concerts and music appreciation opportunities for all ages, according to Juliet Everist, orchestra board of directors president.
The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra (SCSO) gave its first public performance on Feb. 27, 1916, and has been a dominant force in the cultural life of Siouxland ever since, evolving from a 30-piece college ensemble to a 90-member professional orchestra.
"To celebrate the 100th season of a symphony is something a community should be very proud of because it doesn't happen that often," Everist said.
The SCSO opened the season Sept. 19 at the Orpheum Theatre with Broadway star Audra McDonald, a six-time Tony Award and two-time Grammy Award winner. She sang favorite American songs from pop to Hollywood and Broadway standards.
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The opener was preceded by a gala dinner and auction on Pierce Street in front of the Orpheum. More than half of the tickets for this black-tie optional event, Everist said, were sold by late August.
"Season tickets are selling fast," she said.
Everist said she is most looking forward to "A Night at the Museum," a collaboration with the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. The concert will be held on Oct. 17. The SCSO, under the direction of Ryan Haskins, will perform the musical works of J.S. Bach, Handel, Haydn and Glazunov.
Historic instruments from the museum's collection will be on display throughout the Orpheum Theatre including the Keyed Trumpet, Martin Alto-Saxophone, Calisto Harpsichord and Kyai Rengga Manis Everist Gamelan, America's largest Indonesian percussion orchestra of more than 50 instruments. A special Gamelan concert will be held the night of Oct. 16 in the Orpheum Theatre's lobby. Everist said her aunt, the late Margaret Ann Everist, a philanthropist and lover of the arts, had a cello concerto specially commissioned for the Gamelan. The concerto will be revealed for the first time during the Oct. 16 concert.
Everist said there will be other opportunities all week long for adults and children alike to both hear and learn how to play the percussive instruments themselves.
"This is really going to be something very special. This happens to be the largest collection of musical instruments in the world," she said. "It's going to be so fascinating because people are going to be coming from all over to hear this Gamelan."
Other highlights of the 100th anniversary season include "Ballroom with a Twist," a Nov. 14 concert in which the SCSO will partner with dance professionals from the hit TV shows "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance," and "A Musical Homecoming" on March 19, a concert featuring six musicians from Siouxland. The guest artists are: Matthew Baker, double bass; Ben Baron, clarinet; Eric Grossman, violin; Ryan Kisor, trumpet; Stephanie March, cello; and Richard Steinbach, piano.
For more information visit siouxcitysymphony.org or call 712-277-2111.
