Sibelius: Valse Triste and Scene with Cranes Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2
-Sean Chen, piano Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Hailed as a charismatic rising star, pianist Sean Chen won over fans and critics at the 2013 Van Cliburn Piano Competition as the Crystal Award winner with “an exceptional ability to connect with an audience combined with an easy virtuosity” (Huffington Post). Chen is the first American to earn a Cliburn award since 1997, just months after being named the 2013 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellow of the American Pianists Association.
“It was a muscular, impassioned performance, and you felt that he is an artist with something to say.” – Cincinnati Enquirer
$58, $46, $34. 1 Free Student Ticket Available with Mason ID on October 13, 2015
• 1901 ~ The Victor Talking Machine Company was incorporated on this day. After a merger with Radio Corporation of America, RCA-Victor became the leader in phonographs and many of the records played on them. The famous Victrola phonograph logo, with Nipper the dog, and the words “His Master’s Voice”, appeared on all RCA-Victor phonographs and record labels.
• 1941 ~ Chubby Checker (Ernest Evans), American rock-and-roll singer
• 1941 ~ Ruggero Raimondi, Italian bass
• 1945 ~ Stan Kenton and his orchestra recorded Painted Rhythm for Capitol Records.
• 1946 ~ Dennis Day started his own radio show on NBC. Dennis, a popular tenor featured on The Jack Benny Show, played the same naive young bachelor he played on the Benny show. A Day in the Life of Dennis Day aired for five years.
• 1949 ~ Lindsey Buckingham, Guitarist with Fleetwood Mac
• 1954 ~ Stevie Ray Vaughan, Grammy Award-winning blues guitarist with brother Jimmie
• 1962 ~ The play, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!, opened. Broadway welcomed Anthony Newley to the stage with many standing ovations.
• 1980 ~ ‘The Boss’, Bruce Springsteen, forgot some of the words to Born to Runbefore an enthusiastic opening night crowd in Ann Arbor, MI.
• 2000 ~ Benjamin Orr, the bass player of the popular 1980s group The Cars who also sang some of the band’s most popular songs, died of pancreatic cancer. He was 53. Orr, born Benjamin Orzechowski in Cleveland, formed The Cars in Boston in 1976 with fellow Ohio native Ric Ocasek. Orr sang lead vocals on several of the band’s hits, including Drive and Just What I Needed. After the band dissolved in 1986, Orr recorded a solo album, “The Lace,” which produced the hit, Stay the Night. Orr had toured with the band Orr, as well as The Voices of Classic Rock and Atlanta-based group Big People. Orr had also reunited with his former Cars mates for a documentary titled, “The Cars Live.” Rhino Home Video plans to release the production in November with part of the proceeds going to the National Pancreas Foundation.
• 2001 ~ Ed K. Smith, a Harrisburg radio icon who founded several stations and worked with entertainers from Bob Hope to Frankie Avalon, died at age 87. Smith founded AM radio station WCMB and WSFM “Sunny 99” in Pennsylvania, and eventually expanded his small radio network to stations as far away as Madison, Wis. Smith was perhaps best-known as the creator of “Junior Town”, a wildly popular variety show at Harrisburg’s Rio Theater. Those appearing on the show included singing cowboys Roy Rogers and GeneAutry, and crooner Frankie Avalon. Smith’s radio career spanned five decades. He began broadcasting while he was still in high school for WHP radio in Harrisburg. During the early 1930s he worked as an actor for serial radio programs broadcast from New York. During World War II, Smith served as a producer for armed services radio and worked with stars including Mickey Rooney,Donald O’Connor and Bob Hope.
