WSU concert to be performed Sept. 22

Faculty artist Mark Foley, principal bassist of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, will appear as soloist with the Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, in the Campus Activities Center Theater.

The program of music by Dvorak, Prokofiev and Nino Rota will be conducted by Mark Laycock.

Tickets ($7 for general admission with discounts available) may be purchased through the College of Fine Arts Box Office at (316) 978-3233 or go online to www.wichita.edu/fineartsboxoffice.

Foley will perform “Divertimento Concertante” by Nino Rota. The colorful work, dating from 1973, balances virtuosity with Mediterranean-tinged tunefulness.

Rota is known for his film scores, including music for the first two “Godfather” movies and collaborations with Italian director Federico Fellini.

The concert will also include Sergei Prokofiev’s monumental Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp Minor. The Russian composer’s final symphony, completed in 1952 less than a year before his death, vividly displays his most attractive qualities: intense lyricism, sardonic humor, breathtaking harmonic shifts and tireless rhythmic propulsion.

'Othello'

Antonin Dvorak’s overture “Othello” will open the program. Composed in 1891, it is the third of a trio of concert overtures. “In Nature’s Realm” explores the natural world, “Carnival” teems with the activity of daily life, and “Othello” ruminates on the tragic aspects of love.

Originally from the Minneapolis area, Foley attended the University of Minnesota, the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University. He appears each summer as a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in Boulder.

He has played in the bass sections of other major orchestras, including the Rochester Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony and the Bellingham Festival Orchestra. He also performs as a contemporary music and jazz artist.

He is a member of WSU’s Faculty Jazz Quartet, and is founder and musical director of KNOB, a festival of new music held annually in Wichita.

The 2011-12 WSU Symphony Orchestra concert season (featuring faculty artists Foley; Andrea Banke, oboe; and Alla Aranovskaya, violin) will culminate May 3, 2012, with a performance of Beethoven’s groundbreaking Ninth Symphony. Recent symphony performances include a 2011 concert at Carnegie Hall.

Laycock, director of orchestras and coordinator of strings, is an associate professor of music at Wichita State, where he holds the Ann Walenta Faculty of Distinction Endowed Professorship. He is on the board of directors of the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

His work as guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator spans 20 states, including the leadership of all-state, regional and district honor orchestras.