MSO season finale: Joyous to Glorious to be performed April 27 in Ocean View

The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, directed by Maestro Julien Benichou, concludes its 2012-13 season series at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 27, at Mariner’s Bethel Church, Ocean View. The concert will feature two of the most popular and beautiful pieces of the Baroque and Romantic periods: Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56, Scottish.”

Katarzyna Bryla and Nicholas Currie, both celebrated violinists, will star in “Four Seasons.” Currie will solo in “Spring” and “Summer,” and internationally renowned Bryla will solo in “Fall” and “Winter.” This piece is in the form of four concertos for violin, each with three movements of fast, slow, fast tempi. Their textures are varied, portraying the moods of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and they were patterned after sonnets to each season.

Mendelssohn’s "Symphony No. 3 in A Minor" is actually his last orchestral work. Named “Scottish,” this symphony appears to be based on an idea he had during a visit to the ruined Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1829, 13 years prior to its composition.

Canadian-born Currie, the multitalented concertmaster of the MSO, has had a busy career since graduating from Illinois State and Peabody Conservatory, where he studied under Bernard Eichen of the Beaux Arts Quartet and Berl Sanofsky. He spent a summer at the American Conservatory at Fountainbleau, France. He divides his time as assistant concertmaster of the Concert Artists of Baltimore, the Annapolis Symphony and assistant principal 2nd of the Baltimore Opera Company in addition to his job with the MSO, playing with chamber groups and teaching at McDaniel College or at home.

Bryla, a brilliant young violinist born in Poznan, Poland, is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Poznan and Peabody Conservatory. She debuted as a soloist with Zielona Gora Orchestra at age 14 and has played in France, Germany and England as well as other countries. She has won an impressive number of national and international violin competitions. In the National Bach Competition in Zielona, Gora, she was awarded a special prize for the best performance of Bach.

She also plays chamber music, winning prizes for her trio and quartet playing. As an orchestral musician she regularly performs with the Baltimore Symphony and Chamber orchestras, and has collaborated with some of the leading violinists like Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham and Hilary Hahn, to name a few.

This concert will also be performed at 7:30 p.m., April 25, at Easton Church of God, Easton, Md. and at 3 p.m., April 28, at Community Church, Ocean Pines, Md. A preconcert lecture takes place one hour before performances in Ocean View and Ocean Pines. Individual tickets are $36 adult, $15 student and $5 for children under 12.

For tickets and information call 1-888-846-8600 or download the ticket form from www.midatlanticsymphony.org. The MSO website is currently undergoing a redesign and upgrade. Therefore, the April concert flier and program notes have not been posted. This site will be updated as soon as the new system is in place.

The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, a nonprofit organization, is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Talbot County Arts Council, the Worcester County Arts Council, the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, the Sussex County Council, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, M&T Bank, BB&T Bank, PNC Bank and Choptank Electric, as well as donations from individuals, organizations and corporations.