Listen LIVE! to your Illinois Symphony Chambers Orchestra at the Inspiring Influences concert

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Beth Wakefield
217-522-2838 x4
bwakefield@ilsymphony.org

Come experience the rockin' sounds of Yoshimatsu's Atom Hearts Club Suite No. 2 inspired by the music of Pink Floyd and The Beatles. Jolivet’s Japanese-inspired Flute Concerto features Principal Flutist Kimberly McCoul Risinger and Mahler’s daring arrangement of Beethoven's ‘Serioso’ String Quartet closes out this evening of inspiring influences!

Listen LIVE! to your Illinois Symphony Orchestra on Friday, April 14, 2023 at 7:30 PM at the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois and Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 7:30 PM at the Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, IL. Join us following the concerts for Coda Conversations.

Order your tickets and we’ll see you there! Tickets may be purchased in Springfield through the UIS Ticket Office at 217-206-6160 and in Bloomington-Normal through the ISU Center for the Performing Arts Ticket Office at 309-438-2535 or online at ilsymphony.org/inspiringinfluences. Single ticket prices range from $5 for students (11 & under) to $21 for general admission. Senior and group discounts are also available.

Inspiring Influences is sponsored by season sponsors The Landmark Automotive Group and Debra & Daniel Brownstone, M.D., and series sponsor Kathryn Ransom, concert sponsors Circle of Springfield Physicians, and guest artist sponsors Carolyn & Duane Yockey.

Flutist Kimberly McCoul Risinger enjoys a diverse career of performing and teaching and has given concerts throughout the country and abroad. She is praised for her virtuosic technique, warm and lithe tone, and passionate musicianship. The Classical New Jersey declared “Ms Risinger’s slow movement was haunting and painterly with a prestissimo movement that whipped along with complete precision and clarity that left audience members shaking their heads.”

Soloing in most of the major concert halls in New York City, Risinger made her solo recital debut in Carnegie Hall and later performed a solo recital in Lincoln Center’s Merkin Concert Hall. In addition, Risinger gave the world premiere of Matthew Halper’s Flute Concerto in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.

Risinger is Principal Flute in the Illinois Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, is a member of the Linden Flute and Guitar Duo, the Sonneries Woodwind Quintet, and the ensemble Difference Tones. She has performed with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra and recorded with the orchestra and Clark Terry. She has also served as principal flute in the Heartland Festival Orchestra, the Washington Bach Sinfonia, the Ohio Light Opera, and the Sugar Creek Symphony and Song Opera Orchestra. In addition, she has performed and recorded with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and has performed with the Fairfax Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, Arlington Symphony, Mount Vernon Symphony, and with OMEGA Recording Studios.

Winner of the prestigious Neeme Järvi Prize at the 2018 Gstaad Music Festival & Academy, and 2nd prize winner of the National Radio Television Albania Conducting Competition 2019 and 3rd prize winner of the IONEL PERLEA International Opera Competition 2021, Andrew Joon Choi is a classically trained, Korean American Conductor based in Princeton, New Jersey.

He has conducted many orchestras throughout Europe including Sinfonieorchester Basel, Kammerorchester Basel, Basel Sinfonietta, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, ORF-Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, LEAD! Festival Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonisches Orchester, Josef Kajetán Tyl Theater, Filharmonie Hradec Králové, Staatstheater Cottbus, Das Kurpfälzische Kammerorchester - Mannheim, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Pazadzjik Sinfonieorchester, and Russe Philharmonisches Orchester.

Until January of 2020, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Basel Sinfonietta, a renowned contemporary arts organization bringing modern classical music closer to the audience using innovative and provocative programming. It is also known as the only organization of its kind to perform contemporary classical music for full orchestra, every program of the season. In 2022 and beyond, he makes his U.S debut with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra as well as planned concerts with the Opéra Orchestre Montpellier, the Berner Symphonieorchester, and the National Radio Orchestra Tirana Albania.

The Illinois Symphony Orchestra is central Illinois’ largest professional orchestra serving over 35,000 patrons in the communities of Bloomington-Normal, Springfield and the surrounding region with symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, and Concerts for Kids series in each community. In addition to concert performances, the Orchestra's music education and outreach programs serve pre-K and elementary schools through the Itsy Arts and Music Matters education programs and reach middle schools, high schools, universities, community organizations and senior centers through guest artist residencies and musician and ensemble performances. The ISO also has an active Around the Town Chamber Music Series and virtual Sunday at Six Recital Series. The Illinois Symphony Orchestra has a budget of approximately $1.3 million.

In July 2020, the ISO acquired the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony (SVYS) organization that was started in the early 1970s by parents, music teachers and musicians to keep string programs and youth orchestra in Springfield and surrounding communities following the elimination of all school orchestra programs. Now, the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras (ISYO) programs consist of Starter and Junior Strings, Preparatory Orchestra, Concert Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra serving over 150 students. The ISO also has a partnership in education and community engagement (PEACE) with the UIS-School of Music and Illinois State University’s Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts and School of Music.

Additional information about the Illinois Symphony Orchestra is available at www.ilsymphony.org.

The ISO is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

 

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