A Grand Finale’ for Our Grand 20th Anniversary Season!

The magnificent “shout” of the horns at the end of our final concert seemed a most fitting end to our grand 20th Anniversary concert season!  On Monday, May 15^th, at the Infinite Energy Theater on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, the evening began with a pre-concert by our Youth Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Gregory Pritchard performing All Russian.  In the first half of the main concert, our Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Mr. Rick Smith, lifted the audience into ethereal bliss with A MASSive Performance, a collection of well-known and much-loved Christian mass pieces by renowned composers from the past and present.  Following an intermission which included a Gift Basket Raffle, the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mr. Robert Trocina, moved and intrigued the audience with Mahler’s Symphony Number One, which served well as the figurative "bow on the top" for wrapping up our biggest concert season ever!

But wait!  There's more!  In June, we hosted our first ever International Conductors Exchange and Concert.  It was  an incredible experience that has now become an annual event. Read the full story is in a separate article. 

Gwinnett County Board
 Chairman Charlotte Nash (R)
presents recognition to GS
Artistic Director Rick Smith (L)
Board Treasurer Shirley House (CL)
Board Chair Pam Cook (CR)

We launched our 20th anniversary season last September 11^th with A Tribute to the Patriots of 9/11. Three of our orchestras – Chamber, Wind and Symphony - as well as our Chorus created moving performances including works such as Copeland’s A Lincoln Portrait and Clausen’s Memorial. The program was followed with a 20th Anniversary Gala featuring our Jazz Orchestra as the entertainment.  Proceeds were used in support of Care for Cops, Georgia Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and Operation Homefront.    

   

 Santa Jeaux

Christmas was celebrated in a frolickingly festive style, as always, with the combined talents of our Symphony Chorus and Orchestra in a concert titled Yule Be Swinging.  Santa was our special guest on stage where he led the audience in singing some favorite Christmas songs as well assisting children from the audience in taking a turn conducting our orchestra in Sleigh Ride.  In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, we invited homeless children with their mothers from Atlanta Mission to be our guests, using proceeds from the concert to help support the work of Atlanta Mission.  The evening included treating them to dinner at Chik Fil A and personal visits with Santa before the concert.  It was indeed a right jolly evening for everyone but especially these children!  

The GwinnettSymphony Jazz Orchestra enjoyed an eclectic and multicultural season. In late October, they presented Viva Las Americas, celebrating the music of Latin America. Appropriately, in February for Valentine’s Day, they presented Love Songs, a concert featuring romantic music from around the world; and in April, they presented Jazzing With the Classics, a performance featuring jazzed up versions of some well known classical pieces, with many of the pieces arranged by pianist and Jazz Orchestra director, Dr. Jose Manuel Garcia.

Under the direction of Dr. Thomas Martin Wubbenhorst, the Gwinnett Symphony WindOrchestra began its season in early November with Prevailing Winds, a program which included Lunar Epiphanies, a composition by the orchestra’s very own director. In March, they presented Rituals, featuring the World Premiere of Rituals at the Center of the Universe, by Atlanta composer Nickitas Demos. The Wind Orchestra finished their season with Stars and Rings and Scary Things, performing music from Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, as Dr. Wubbenhorst passed the baton to his successor (see separate story), Dr. Robert Dunham from GA Southern University. 

Northeast Atlanta Ballet Company with Gwinnett Symphony Ballet Orchestra (in the orchestra pit beneath)

Other season highlights included two ballets, The Nutcracker in November and Swan Lake in March, bringing together the combined talents of the Northeast Atlanta Ballet Company with the Gwinnett Symphony Ballet Orchestra in the Infinite Energy Theater in Duluth.  

Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra

The origin and pride of our organization, our Youth Orchestra, began their season performing Dances From Around the World  in October.  In January, they performed with the Chamber Orchestra as part of our educational Side-By-Side Concert series, and their season finale’ was noted at the beginning of this article. In keeping with our emphasis on youth and music education, this season also marked our new partnership with Discovery High School which is now our home for all rehearsals and most performances as we support their music education program by providing private music lessons for some of their students. 

With our new home at DHS, more concerts, more musicians, something altogether new and more diversity in our membership and our music than ever before, our 2016-2017 season has certainly been our busiest and most exciting season yet!  What a truly grand way to celebrate 20 years!  

We have even more exciting events coming up in our new season.  You won’t want to miss a single one!  Stay tuned for coming articles bringing you the latest news about Gwinnett Symphony's 2017-2018 season! 

Contributed by Pam Cook                                   with Tara Kunesh
pam.gwinnettsymphony@yahoo.com                 tarakunesh@gmail.com