Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, one of the hallmarks of the violin repertoire, will be part of a program entitled “Transcending Limits,” which will be presented on Saturday, March 15, at 8 p.m., at the Frank Guaracini, Jr. Fine and Performing Arts Center, Cumberland County College, Sherman Avenue and College Drive, Vineland; and on Sunday, March 16, at 4 p.m., at the Richard Stockton College Performing Arts Center, Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township.
Under the direction of Bay-Atlantic Symphony Music Director Jed Gaylin, the concert will also include Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 3, “The Camp Meeting,” and Felix Mendelssohn’s Tales of the Fair Melusina Overture, Op. 32 in a program that will transcend limits—technical, between sea and land, and of spiritual communion.
Called “a violinist of incandescent technical brilliance,” Gleusteen has been critically acclaimed world-wide for the beauty of his performances. He has performed in the United States, Canada, Australia, Egypt, and most of the European countries. His vast repertoire ranges from the great violin concerti to chamber music.
Born in Calgary, Canada, he began his musical studies at age 5 and, by age 10, he was under the tutelage of Ivan Galamian and Cerone during summers spent at the Meadowmount School of Music in New York. He made his first concert tour of England at age 15 with his local youth orchestra.
The first prize winner in the Commonwealth Concerto Competition in Brisbane, Australia and in the National Soloist Auditions in Chicago, he was also a finalist in the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Denmark.
Further study with famed violinist Camela Wicks eventually led him to Paris where, in 1991, he became the concertmaster and guest soloist of the Ensemble Orchestral I’lle de France.
A meeting with the great violin virtuoso Sandor Végh led him to spend a year at the Mozart Foundation in Prague devoting himself to chamber music.
Since then, Gleusteen maintains his bonds with these musical centers while maintaining his world-wide career. This is his third appearance with the Bay-Atlantic Symphony.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, once considered unplayable, has become one of the popular classical music masterpieces. Its blend of Russian folk melodies and sheer bravura has made an interpretative and technical challenge for generations of violinists.
A more spiritual experience is in store in Ives’ Symphony No. 3. This work is characteristically American in his familiar blend of familiar traditional melodies and music evoking a strong sense of atmosphere—in this work, the revivalist hymn tunes that were part of old-time camp meetings. Practically unknown during his lifetime, the works of this composer have won recognition and acclaim since then.
Mendelssohn’s beautiful Tales of the Fair Melusina Overture takes us to the magical world of mermaids—a fantasy world of land and sea—in Mendelssohn’s poetic musical imagery.
Gaylin, now in his 11th season as Music Director of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, is also the Principal Conductor of the Cape May Music Festival. He works regularly with the Sibiu Philharmonic of Romania, where he is Principal Guest Conductor.
A much sought-after guest conductor throughout Europe, he has appeared with such orchestras as the Accademia del Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, Spain, for repeat engagements, as well as the Bucharest (Romania) Radio Orchestra, Lodz (Poland) Philharmonic, and the Moscow (Ruissia) Chamber Symphony.
Now in its 25th season of providing classical music concerts, the Bay-Atlantic Symphony performs concerts and educational programs throughout Cumberland, Atlantic, and Cape May counties. The orchestra-in-residence of the Cape May Music Festival since 2003, it is also the resident orchestra of the Guaracini Fine and Performing Arts Center and the Stockton College Fine and Performing Arts Center. It has received worldwide exposure through its appearance on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition.
Both Bay-Atlantic Symphony performances will be preceded one hour prior to starting time with a “Pre-Concert Conversation with the Maestro.”
Tickets for the Guaracini Fine and Performing Arts Center performance are $30 for adults, $26 for those age 55 and over, $15 for students, and $8 for children, and may be ordered by calling the box office at (856) 692-8499.
Tickets for the Stockton College Performing Arts Center performance are $40 ($35 for senior citizens) for orchestra level seats, $30 ($25 for senior citizens) for mezzanine level seats, and $15 for children (with an adult ticket), and may be ordered by calling the box office at (609) 652-9000.
For more information, please call the Bay-Atlantic Symphony at (856) 451-1169 or visit the Symphony’s website at www.bayatlanticsymphony.org .
