Violinist Yuriy Bekker, concertmaster for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Acting Artistic Director, will be the guest artist when the Beaufort Symphony Orchestra performs “Beethoven Bash” at USCB Center for the Arts on Thursday, Feb. 27 and Sunday, March 3.
Ludwig van Beethoven composed the two featured pieces, Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, and Symphony No. 6 in F “Pastoral,” during a magically prolific period of his life. Composed in 1806, the Violin Concerto is not only a fantastic concerto for virtuoso performers to display their technical skills, but also a great work of musical art. Today it is one of the most important works of the violin concerto repertoire.
The second selection on the program, Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral,” is one of only two symphonies Beethoven intentionally named, its full title being “Pastoral Symphony or Recollections of Country Life.” He even named the five movements, one leading into the next: “Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country,” “Scene by the brook,” “Merry gathering of peasants,” “Tempest Storm,” and “Shepherds’ Hymn.” He recreated pastoral sounds in this early example of “program” music. From flowing streams and birdcalls to a fierce storm, the work does not attempt to tell a literal story but does depict specific scenes and events.
As a critically acclaimed soloist, Mr. Bekker has performed throughout the US and abroad, including New York City, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Asheville, Flagstaff, Scottsdale and Graz, Austria. He has played in music festivals in Germany and Japan, and in the US at Aspen and his hometown Charleston’s Spoleto Festival. He has served as concertmaster for the Charleston orchestra since 2007, and prior to that held the position for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and AIMS Festival in Graz, Austria. Mr. Bekker is also an avid chamber music musician and has performed at the Kennedy Center and Chicago Chamber Music Society. A native of Minsk, Belarus, he is now a US citizen and earned a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees were acquired from Indiana University’s School of Music.
“We are very, very pleased to present such a wonderful talent to our audiences,” said Fred Devyatkin, Director of the Beaufort Symphony Orchestra. “Several of our orchestra’s guest musicians are also members of the Charleston orchestra and have been singing his praises to us for years. When we started discussing our collaboration I discovered that we were also being promoted to him. We were ‘set up’ so to speak, but in a great way – this Beethoven Bash is an event you won’t want to miss!”
So make your plans and mark your calendars to attend this superb evening of beautiful music beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27, and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 3, at USCB Center for the Arts, 801 Carteret St. in downtown Beaufort. All tickets are $37.50 with assigned seating. To purchase tickets online go to TIX.com or call 1-800-595-4849. For savings with season tickets go to our website at www.beaufortorchastra.org to print a subscription form or order online.
Mr. Bekker’s performance is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Blovad and by Mr. and Mrs. Francis Newton. This concert is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
