Music director candidate Laurino to lead Sheboygan Symphony in Feb. 6 concert

Posted by on 29 January 2010 | 0 Comments

Music director candidate Laurino to lead Sheboygan Symphony in Feb. 6 concert

The third of four music director candidates for the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, Pasquale Laurino of Chicago, will conduct the Saturday, Feb. 6 concert featuring Wagner's overture to "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg"; Grondahl's Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, featuring guest artist Megumi Kanda; and Brahms' Symphony No. 4, op. 98, in E minor.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts.

"To complement the existing program, I chose the Wagner 'Meistersinger' overture for several reasons," Laurino said. "I wanted a work that featured the entire ensemble with interesting and challenging parts for every instrument. I felt the opening piece should be in a major key given that the rest of the program is in the minor mode. Most importantly, I wanted to showcase the two greatest musical masters of the Romantic period, Brahms and Wagner.

"These two icons of music history could not be more different as men or musicians. Wagner was a man of the theater, writing the most profound music dramas in history, while Brahms had no interest in opera. Wagner was a man with infamous romantic liaisons, while Brahms remained faithful to his friendship with (Robert and Clara) Schumann and never married. Wagner wrote only one early symphony and never returned to the form, while Brahms became the worthy successor to Beethoven with his four symphonies. The contrast between these two musical giants has always fascinated me and I could not resist putting them on the same program."

Born in Brooklyn, Laurino was trained as a violinist and conductor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Indiana University. He serves as concertmaster for the Milwaukee Ballet, Northwest Indiana Symphony, DuPage Opera and the Chicago Chamber. He is faculty member of the Rocky Ridge Music Festival as the conductor and violinist. Laurino also is a guest conductor with L'Opera Piccola and Light Opera Works and plays baroque violin in Ars Antiqua and Haydn on the Lake.

He regularly conducts the Milwaukee Ballet in productions of "The Nutcracker" and was named associate conductor for the 2009-10 season. Other guest conducting work has been with th eMarion Philharmonic and Racine Symphony. He is a former member of L'Ensemble Portique. Laurino has participated in numerous festivals in Europe and the U.S., including the Macerata Opera and Festivale della Valle d'Itria in Italy and the Gent Opera Festival in Belgium.

The concert also will showcase guest artist Kanda, principal trombone of the Milwaukee Symphony and adjunct professor of trombone at UW-Milwaukee. A native of Tokyo, Kanda came to the U.S. in 1994 and received a bachelor's degree in music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with James DeSano, principal trombone of the Cleveland Orchestra.