An Evening With Beethoven

Description

Fishers Music Works is pleased to announce a special concert to help commemorate National Disability Awareness Month. The White River Chamber Orchestra will present An Evening with Beethoven: Triumph Over Disability on Sunday, March 29 at 4:00 p.m. at Legacy Bible Church in Noblesville.

The program includes Beethoven’s most famous symphony, his Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. Beethoven himself described the famous opening 4 notes of the symphony as “fate knocking at the door.” Beethoven’s fate of course was the most devastating disability that could happen to a
musician: the loss of his hearing. As the symphony unfolds, it portrays his coming to terms with his fate and his determination not to let it destroy his life.

Also on the program is the first movement of Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto, featuring Dr. Phoenix Park-Kim, professor of piano at Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Park-Kim has performed in the United States, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, and Russia. She has been a guest soloist at the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Piano Texas, Wiener Meisterkurses in Vienna, and the Summer Music School in Siena. She has won top prizes at national and international competitions, including first place at the Miami Concerto Competition, Kansas City Philharmonic Concerto Competition, and was a finalist at the Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition. She has been a guest soloist with the Korean Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansas City Philharmonia, UMKC, and Marion Philharmonic Orchestras. This marks her second appearance as soloist with the White River Chamber Orchestra.

Mindy Root has lived in Fishers, IN for three years, having moved back to Indiana from New York City in 2016. She received her BM in Vocal Performance from Ball State University in 2012. While in NYC, Mindy received her vocal training from Valentine Peytchinov, and she was a regular performer with Vocal Productions NYC. Mindy has been an instructor for the Barn RATS summer theatre program at Mud Creek Theatre for the past six years. Mindy and her husband also own and operate Roots’ School of Theatre, a children’s theater school located in central Fishers. Mindy’s most recent credits include Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Dido), Mozart's Don Giovanni (Zerlina), and Donizetti's Lucia diLammermoor (Lucia). Mindy has been a frequent soloist with the White River Wind Symphony, and has performed with Project:  Opera (Dido and Aeneas). This marks her second appearance as a soloist with the White River Chamber Orchestra.

Mindy Root’s solo is from Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. She will appear in character in costume, disguised as a man, attempting to rescue her wrongly imprisoned husband and save him from death. The recitative and aria she will sing are one of the most emotionally demanding moments in all of opera.

Dr. Keith Kunda is the music director of Fishers Music Works and is the conductor of both the White River Wind Symphony and the White River Chamber Orchestra. He holds a DA from Ball State University in orchestral conducting. He was a founding member of Fishers Music Works, where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. His conducting experience includes orchestra, band/wind symphony, chorus, musical theater, oratorio, and opera.