Conway Symphony concert to feature Copland, Gershwin and more

CONWAY — The Conway Symphony Orchestra will present its February concert, American Portrait: A Concert of Unity, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas. Tickets range from $20 to $40 and are free for all UCA students, courtesy of the UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication, as well as students in K-12 who are enrolled in a music program. Tickets are available at the box office by calling (501) 450-3265 or at www. conwaysymphony.org.

The program will open with Aaron Copland’s iconic “Fanfare for the Common Man,” which features the brass and percussion sections of the Conway Symphony, and will continue with Albert Markov’s “Porgy Rhapsody” for violin and orchestra, with guest artist Min Yen Chien on violin. The concert will also include Gershwin’s jazz-influenced piece, “An American in Paris,” before closing with Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” which will feature Rob Holden as guest narrator.

Min Yen Chien came from a family of medical and musical eminence in Nantou, Taiwan. He started playing the violin at age 7 and became a protégé of Raphael Hillyer, violist of the Juilliard String Quartet. Chien’s great interest in medicine and science brought him to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, where he enrolled as a medical student from 1982-86. Recently, Chien began exploring the relationship between the violin and the muscular-skeletal system and is committed to studying injury prevention of muscle overuse or misuse.

Preceding the concert, from 6:45-7:15 p.m., the symphony will offer a guest lecture from Jane Dahlenburg, associate professor of music history. She received a doctorate in musicology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and taught at UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro before moving to Arkansas. She has taught courses at UCA that include Renaissance graduate seminars, the history of Broadway and the history of rock ’n’ roll.

This concert also features an art contest and an essay contest for local fifth- through 12th-graders. Students can submit an essay or art entry to the symphony at P.O. Box 1307, Conway, AR 72033; or drop off their work at the UCA box office. Students are asked to base their entry around the question, “How can our nation, with its diverse population, achieve unity?”

Finally, this concert offers an opportunity to donate nonperishable food items through Orchestras Feeding America. Audience members can bring items to the concert, and they will be collected in the lobby. All donated items will be shared with local food banks.

American Portrait: A Concert of Unity is sponsored by First Security Bank. For more information, visit conwaysymphony.org or call (501) 269-1066.