ENID, OK - This weekend’s Enid Symphony Orchestra subscription performance will feature Cecilia’s Muse, an early music ensemble of musicians from the ESO. The program will feature sacred and secular music of the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries. It will be presented Saturday, November 7, at 7:30pm in Joan Allen Symphony Hall.
Cecilia’s Muse is led by a violin soloist/leader as was customary in the time this music originated. Violinist Benjamin Shute will serve in this role. In addition to being an accomplished performer, Mr. Shute is a recognized early music specialist and author. He serves on the faculty of Oklahoma City University and is a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
The ensemble’s name Cecilia’s Muse was designated by ESO Music Director Douglas Newell in homage to Saint Cecilia, the 3rd century martyred patron saint of music, poetry and hymns. A replicated Renaissance portrait of Saint Cecilia adorns the east wall of the Joan Allen Symphony Hall balcony in the Enid Symphony Center. In the European custom, Saint Cecilia’s presence defines the musical purpose of the concert hall.
Cecilia’s Muse program is a mixture of familiar and lesser-known music. The concert will open with Pachelbel’s famous Canon in D and include a set of popular 16th century dances compiled by Michael Praetorius, Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in g minor, op. 6, no. 8 composed for Christmas Eve, and Georg Philip Telemann’s Concerto for Viola in G Major, featuring ESO principal violist Ralph Morris as soloist.
Cecilia’s Muse early is comprised of musicians of the Enid Symphony Orchestra. The players perform on replicated musical instruments and bows similar to those in use when this music was composed.
This performance is sponsored by the TCK Wealth Management. Additional support has been provided by the Oklahoma Arts Council with assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tickets may be purchased online at ESOenid.org, by telephone at 580-237-9646 or at the door one hour before the performance begins. Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for students.
About The Enid Symphony
The Enid Symphony Association was established in 1971 to foster the Enid Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1906. In 1983 Douglas Newell became the first full-time Music and Executive Director of the Enid Symphony Association. Each season the ESO presents a ten performance Subscription Concert series, a free outdoor July performance in Enid’s Meadowlake Park, the annual Harris Foundation Family Concert in Symphony Hall (admission free) and run-out concerts.
Annually, the ESO reaches audiences in excess of 10,000 from throughout Oklahoma. Although the primary service area of the ESO is Garfield County, the ESO subscriber base encompasses a radius of 128 miles including residents of 11 Oklahoma counties as a primary service area and 6 additional counties as a secondary service area.
Visit them online at www.enidsymphony.org. Enid Symphony Hall, 301 West Broadway.
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