Bijou Orchestra Presents An "Over The Top Finale"
'Revenge Of The Viola' Set for April 18 at The State Theater
April 12, 2009
By: Julie McCallum, Entertainment Editor
'I wanted the final concert of our State Theatre Series to go out in a blaze of musical pyrotechnics,' said, Leo Najar, Bijou Artistic Director
The Bijou Orchestra concludes its sixth concert season with an
orchestral spectacular in a show called REVENGE OF THE VIOLA to be
presented on Saturday, April 18 at 8:00pm and Sunday, April 19 at 2:00 pm in
the State Theatre in Downtown Bay City.
"I wanted the final concert of our State Theatre Series to go out in a
blaze of musical pyrotechnics," says Bijou Artistic Director Leo Najar.
"We are playing a lot of familiar classics, both old and new, and
everything is going to have that special Bijou twist that guarantees a
great show for audience and performers alike. I am particularly
delighted that we are hosting my long-time friend and colleague
Patricia McCarty as our soloist."
McCarty is one of the most prominent violists in the country. Formerly
principal violist of the Boston Pops and Associate Principal violist of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she is also a prominent chamber
musician, teacher and clinician. A silver medalist at the Geneva
Competition, the most prominent competition for violists, she has
performed with major orchestras around the country. She has produced a
number of recordings and she is also a well-known scholar on the
subject of the viola and its repertoire. McCarty will perform the
"Hullamzo Balaton" bu Hubay and "Maria," a virtuoso work based on
Bernstein's West Side Story which was written for her to perform with
the Boston Pops.
"I realize that the viola is not the sort of well-known solo work that
the violin or piano represent," points out Najar.
"Musicians, on the
other hand, not only know the instrument and its repertoire, but they
also know the 'viola jokes.' For some reason, the viola is the brunt of
humor in the orchestral world."
According to Najar, If you Google trombone jokes, for
example, you will get 996 entries. If you do the same with the phrase
'viola jokes.' You get 8,000. Najar said, "In honor of our soloist, and in praise of
the Viola (which was also my instrument in college) we are holding a
contest for best viola joke. We are encouraging people to email or
snail mail their favorite viola joke to us by April 17. A committee
made up of Patti McCarty, Mark Mooningham (the Bijou's violist and
perhaps coincidentally, Elvis impersonator) along with Dr. Thomas
Markus, an amateur violist will select the winner of the contest. We
know the prize will include some tickets for our upcoming season, but
the rest of the reward is a surprise."
Jokes may be sent to The Bijou Orchestra PO Box 336, Bay City, MI 48707 or sent to bijouorchestra@msn.com.
Fiery virtuosity is the order of the day for this concert. In addition
to the solo viola works, the orchestra will perform the 'Poet and
Peasant Overture,' the Paganini 'Moses Variations' in an orchestration
by Leo Najar and Tchaikovsky's "Overture"
Really? "The 1812 Overture" With cannons? Sure, why not? You haven't
lived until you've heard 13 players do the work of 90 and do it well.
Our other "big pieces" include the Tchaikovsky "Fourth Symphony,"
Beethoven's "Fifth," and our perennial Halloween favorite, "The Ride of
the Valkyries."
Concert information is available at www.bijouorchestra.org Tickets may
be purchased in advance at the State Theatre Box Office, 913 Washington
Avenue, Bay City, or by phone at (989) 892-2660. Tickets will also be
available at the door.
The Bijou Orchestra takes its name from the Bijou Theater, one of the
earliest Bay City theaters, which later became known as the Bay and
eventually the State. The ensemble is composed of thirteen outstanding
musicians drawn from Michigan and beyond to perform in this challenging
medium in which every player is a soloist.
The orchestra is supported in part by grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council for the Arts and
Cultural Affairs. Major corporate sponsors include, Dow Corning, Bay
Regional Medical Center, OmniSource and Thelen Auto Group.