Prescott Strings 28th Season Begins with World Famous Flutist Elizabeth Buck & Diverse Music Line-Up

Nov. 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Fall brings not only cooler weather but the enchanting sounds of a new season of music from the Prescott Strings Classical Chamber Orchestra.  The first concert of this, their 28th season, is scheduled for 7:30 pm Friday evening, November 12, 2010,  and will be held in their usual venue at the beautiful St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in north Prescott.

Dr. Phil Kuhns, orchestra director and conductor, outlined a full program to include music by William Byrd, Béla Bartók, William Grant Still, John Rutter and Gabriel Fauré.  The Suite Antique by John Rutter is just one of the pieces in which world renowned flautist and special guest soloist, Dr. Elizabeth Buck, will perform with the Strings.  

“We are honored and thrilled to have her (Buck) back in Prescott to perform this time with the Prescott Strings.” said Dr. Kuhns.  “She performed as a guest soloist this past September with the Prescott POPS Symphony and, of course, dazzled the audience with her incredible talent.”

Buck is Associate Professor of Flute at Arizona State University.  Previous appointments include Visiting Associate Professor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Principal Flute with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra.

“The music selected for this program will once again be a variety of styles from wonderfully talented composers, that perhaps not everyone is familiar with.” added Kuhns.  “While no doubt a couple will be familiar, I like to think we bring new works and composers to our audiences and their listening pleasure.”

About some of the composers:

William Byrd was a 16th century English composer best known for his sacred works, of which there were many.  The Carmans Whistle is one of Byrd’s most popular keyboard pieces.  

Béla Bartók, a talented Hungarian composer and pianist whose lifelong endeavors and struggles lead him from the more standard classical music of the time, through his country’s rich folk music as inspiration as well as rejection, and on to the emergence of a new style.  

French composer, Gabriel Faure, began his career at a very early age, publishing his first composition at the age of 18. He is said to have not only excelled as a songwriter with great refinement and sensitivity but also every branch of chamber music.

Two contemporary composers' works will be performed, one of which will feature Dr. Buck in a flute solo.  John Rutter’s beautiful Suite Antique for Flute and Orchestra is sure to be a complete delight as will Buck's performance.  Rutter is one of England’s best known and respected composers and music scholars of the late 20th century.

William Grant Still distinguished himself not only through his talented play with famous performers such as Don Voorhees, Sophie Tucker, Paul Whiteman, Willard Robison and Artie Shaw, but as a legendary black classical composer of which there are very few.  “The Dean of Negro American Composers” as he was known, has an incredible number of “firsts” credited to his biographical stats, including the first African American in the United States to have a symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra.  Still wrote well over 200 compositions including operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber works, and arrangements of folk themes, especially Negro spirituals, plus instrumental, choral and solo vocal works.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is located at 2000 Shepherd’s Lane, just off Ruger Road and Hwy 89 in Prescott.  Admission is free, although donations are always appreciated.   The Prescott Strings Classical Chamber Orchestra is a 501c(3) organization and in addition to musical entertainment, provides musical scholarship assistance to gifted youth in the community.

For more information, visit www.prescottstrings.com. Questions can also be directed to Fulton Wright at (928) 445-4967.