Artists and Musicians

Violinist Jorge Avila Stirs Audience with Performance of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

 

The sold-out audience at the Simon Sinfonietta concert on Saturday, September 17, gave Honduran-American violinist Jorge Avila an enthusiastic standing ovation for his dazzling performance in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. (Photograph by Nancy Viall Shoemaker)
 

Simon Sinfonietta Revisits Beethoven in First Concert of the New Season

 
On Saturday, September 17, the Simon Sinfonietta and its director Stephen Simon revisited Beethoven. And this time, it was the youthful Beethoven who composed Symphony No. 2.

Stephen Simon has stayed close to Beethoven during his entire career ─ from Simon's earliest days as a conductor, to his prize-winning recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerti with Anthony Newman, to his landmark presentation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Mashpee, MA, in May 2011 (pictured above in a photo by Nancy Viall Shoemaker). This first concert of the Sinfonietta's new season presented the work of a younger Beethoven  ─ Symphony No. 2 in D major, which was written when the composer was only 32 years old. The symphony is a musical display of youthful horseplay and outright happiness while, in the words of Stephen Simon, “The symphony also breaks new ground, expanding the symphonic form to new dimensions.”

For information on upcoming Simon Sinfonietta concerts, and to purchase tickets, please visit The Simon Sinfonietta