Talent at the Kroc:
The Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra kicks off 2020 with a pastiche of music to satisfy everyone, from first-time audience to longtime aficionados of classical music, beginning with a fresh presentation of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” narrated by Coeur d’Alene resident Stephen Shortridge.
“I love living in Coeur d’Alene. It is important to support the arts,” he said.
Shortridge has appeared in more than 20 film and television projects throughout the 1970s and ’80s, most recognizably from his role as a Southern high school student named Beau De LaBarre on the television sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter.” In 1987, he spent one year as a regular cast member on the soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” in the late ’80s and has performed on stage with Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater. Shortridge quit the acting business to concentrate on painting. He is represented in galleries across the United States. He published his first book in 2011 titled ”Deepest Thanks, Deeper Apologies.”
Following the Prokofiev piece, the audience will be immersed in Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” with a local twist. Don Sausser, a former General Telephone and Electric (GTE) engineer, has contributed to the community with his sports and events videos and landscape photography.
“I never intended to make a living at it. It’s my hobby,” he said. “I think a photograph is an instance in time and you can never get that back once it happens,” he once told The Coeur d’Alene Press. Sausser has edited his stunning landscapes and choreographed them to illustrate Mussorgsky’s music.
Each year, the Symphony conducts a “Melody Contest.” Entries are open to all students in the five North Idaho counties through sixth grade. Entries of four bars on “staff” paper, like that of a musical score, are sent to Whitworth University composition students who will choose five winners that will have their selections orchestrated for the Symphony and performed as a combined composition at the January concert.
Winners for 2020 are “The Quiet Garden” by Gwen Crandall and orchestrated by Benjamin Kogut; “Skippy” by Kiana Klingsmith, orchestrated by Kate Price; “Elastic Hands” by Andrew Phillips, orchestrated by Christian Price; “Peace Valley” by Paige Rieg, orchestrated by Nathan Heath; and “F(r)ed the Dog” by Jonathan C. Phillips, orchestrated by George McGuinness. The combined compositions will be performed by the Coeur d’Alene Symphony with the winners and their orchestrators in the audience.
After intermission, the concert will conclude with a performance of two Beethoven “romances” by Yesong Sophie Lee in honor of the anniversary of the composer’s 250th birthday. At the age of 12, Lee won first prize at the 2016 Menuhin International Junior Violin Competition in London. At 13 she won the Coeur d’Alene Symphony National Young Artists Instrumental Competition. After her Berlin debut, Kultur Radio, Berlin wrote:
“Yesong Sophie Lee plays with an intense sound, as one who has played Bach for decades. Her seriousness and density of expression is amazing … one is almost reminded of Yehudi Menuhin … a huge talent.”
Since winning the Menuhin Competition, she has soloed with numerous orchestras, including the London Philharmonia Orchestra, Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchestra, Milan’s Orchestre des Cameristi de la Scala, the Seattle Symphony and the Detroit Symphony. She performed Bach’s Double Concerto with Joshua Bell and the Richmond Symphony. She has performed in festivals in Gstaad, Geneva, Warsaw and in major U.S. cities, from Honolulu to New York City. She also gave a concert tour of the UK, where she played for Prince Charles.
Ms. Lee began studying the violin at age 4 with Jan Coleman, founder of the Coleman Violin Studio in Seattle. Since 2012 she has been studying with Simon James and studies musical analysis with Hiro David. Her early achievements include receiving the composer’s award at the Menuhin Competition for her performance of a newly commissioned work; winning first prize in the 2015 National Junior Strings Competition at age 11; and making her solo debut with the Seattle Symphony at age 8. She has also been featured on NPR’s “From the Top.”
Tickets for this family-friendly concert, held at the Kroc Center, 1765 Golf Course Road, are available online at www.cdasymphony.org, by calling 208-765-3833, and at the door at the Salvation Army Kroc Center.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday.
