"Fanfare' promises flourish of great music

"Fanfare' promises flourish of great music

By THOMAS BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
Taking listeners to new places and giving them new experiences, the South Carolina Philharmonic will perform a program bound to transport the audience at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium at South Carolina State University.
South Carolina State University and the SCP will present "Fanfare," a program of music drenched in feeling and beauty. SCP Music Director Nicholas Smith assures that this program is "a definite crowd-pleaser," and that some of the themes will be familiar to many members of the audience.
The line-up includes Overture to La Scala di Seta by Rossini, Valse Triste, Op. 44, No. 1 by Sibelius, Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K 595, by Mozart, Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, D. 485 by Schubert and Piano Concerto NO. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 by Shostakovich.
"This is an imminently audience-friendly program," Smith said. "It is music that is wonderful to listen to and it has been a joy to rehearse."
Smith has been in charge of orchestras and opera companies for more than thirty years and on both sides of the Atlantic. A native of Great Britain, he has conducted orchestras in a dozen countries, making him adept at communicating with few words. Many concerts have been broadcast on radio and television and he has recorded CDs with Finnish, British and Czech orchestras.
In the theater, Smith has conducted for French, Finnish, British and American ballet companies and for more than thirty opera companies in an assortment of languages. Along with his duties as Music Director for the SCP, he is also the Artistic Director of the Bollington Festival in England, where SCSU's Concert Choir performed on invitation from him.
Smith's expanse of experience and love of music and all arts makes him something of a musical renaissance man. Nearing 13 years with the SCP, he has been the major engine for the vast outreach that has become one the orchestra's calling cards. His abiding passion is "to give anyone and everyone, anywhere and everywhere in the world the opportunity to hear and enjoy orchestral music."
Smith's appointment as Music Director in 1993 inspired a further evolution of the orchestra, increasing the number of educational concerts, the number of performances in other communities, exposure and awareness in the community and conductor chats from 50 to approximately 200.
In 1996, the mission of the SCP was enhanced to place greater emphasis on education and youth activities. The orchestra is dedicated in its effort to introduce live symphonic music to an increasing number of students each year.
Bringing his joy of music to the stage in his role as conductor, Smith is a wonder to watch as he appears to coax music from the instruments of the musicians in the orchestra, pampering every sound until its as near perfect as is humanly possible. The orchestra enjoys recognition for its continued increase in artistic and technical excellence and this concert promises to be another feather in its cap.