Saturday, December 7, 2024
7:30 p.m.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO

The Orchestra of the International Center for Music at Park University will present its third annual Christmas concert, “An Intimate Christmas with the ICM”, on Saturday  December 7th  at 7:30 PM, and will be under the direction of Steven McDonald, music director of the ICM Orchestra.  The programme will once again offer a variety of Christmas pieces both familiar and less well-known, and serves as an elegant companion and contrast to the music presented by other fine ensembles in the Kansas City area.  A few highlights of the concert are described below.

The English Renaissance tune “Greensleeves” (perhaps written by Henry VIII himself) is best known in America as the Christmas hymn “What Child is This”, and this serves as the basis for an extended work for harp, flutes, and strings by the 20^th-century composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, the Fantasia on Greensleeves.  This haunting melody alternates between minor and major keys, creating a mood of depth, wonder and mystery.

The wonderfully sweet and somewhat extrovert “Skater’s Waltz” by the French composer Emil Waldteuffel presents various images of an afternoon’s skate, it’s warm melody alternating with the sounds of sleigh bells, and including even a sudden slip and fall on the ice!

Handel’s great oratorio Messiah  is always a Christmas favourite, and this year both the Overture and exuberant aria “Rejoice greatly” will be heard, as well as the thrilling aria “Let the Bright Seraphim” from the oratorio Samson.  Both pieces will be sung by soprano Payton Boldt.

The music of Mozart makes its first appearance at this year’s concert by a performance of his German Dance, K.605/3.  A lilting minuet, the trio section is accompanied by the festive sound of four sets of tuned sleigh bells, giving the work the title of “Mozart’s Sleighride”

New Year’s Day in Vienna is celebrated in grand style, with the annual concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra presenting music of the Strauss family, with their waltzes, polkas and overtures, all redolent of the golden age of Vienna.  The ICM Orchestra will dip into this rich well of music by performing the stirring Radetzky March.

Other works for the Christmas season (including some audience participation) will be included in the programme….but you’ll have to come to the concert to hear them!  All are invited to conclude the annual Parkville Christmas Walk with this concert of great music for the Christmas season.

The concert will take place in the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel at Park University, and there is no charge for admission but reservations are strongly recommended!

Steven McDonald

Originally from Reading, Mass., Steven McDonald, director of orchestral activities, has served on the faculties of the University of Kansas, Boston University and Gordon College. While in Boston, he conducted a number of ensembles, including Musica Modus Vivendi, the student early music group at Harvard University. McDonald also directed ensembles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serving as founder and music director of the Summer Opera and Independent Activities Period Orchestra, and conductor of the MIT Chamber Orchestra and the Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Read Full Biography Here

Ben Lerman

Ben Lerman began studying the violin at age 3, making his solo orchestral debut at age 14 playing Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with the Greenwich Village Orchestra in New York and has received awards in several competitions including the Camerata Artists International competition and the New York Concerti Sinfonietta Competition. He performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta and when re-engaged with the Greenwich Village Orchestra. Ben has had the opportunity to participate in the masterclasses of Midori Goto, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Rachel Barton-Pine, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Herbert Greenberg, Victor Danchenko, Itzhak Rashkovsky and Gerardo Ribeiro, among others. He has attended numerous music festivals including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, Center Stage Strings, Summit Music Festival, and the Innsbrook Institute, among others.

As a chamber musician Ben has had coachings with members of the  Cavani, Calidore and Linden Quartets, as well as with members of the New York Philharmonic. In 2020 he graduated from the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division where he was a student of Xiao Wang. Ben previously attended the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a recipient of the Premier Young Artist Award, where he studied with Mauricio Fuks and Itamar Zorman. He currently studies with Ben Sayevich on a Full Scholarship at the International Center for Music at Park University.

As a conductor, Ben has attended courses the International Conducting Workshop and Festival, the Miami Music Festival, and the Pehlivanian Professional Opera Academy, where he conducted Puccini’s La Bohème on a tour of Slovenia.

Payton Boldt

Payton Boldt (soprano) is working to receive her master’s degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, studying with Dr. Maria Kanyova. She has performed with numerous opera companies around the United States and in Italy, appearing as Este Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Kate in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Adele in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.