Lebanon Valley College Symphony Orchestra to Perform Reunion Concert

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Lebanon Valley College Symphony Orchestra to Perform Reunion Concert

ANNVILLE, PA (04/13/2015)(readMedia)-- Lebanon Valley College's Symphony Orchestra will perform a 20th Anniversary Reunion Concert on Sunday, April 26 at 3 p.m. in Lutz Hall of Blair Music Center. The concert will celebrate Dr. Johannes Dietrich's 20th year of teaching at LVC. Dietrich is the Newton and Adelaide Burgner Endowed Professor of Instrumental Music as well as the orchestra director. The concert will feature the American premiere of "Primordial Spring" by Dr. Greg Strohman '08 and solos by last spring's Concerto-Aria competition winners Aileen Koch '15 and Hannah Pell '15. Approximately 70 alumni will return to join with the orchestra to perform in the event. The performance is free and open to the public.

"The overarching theme for this program, at least for me, is looking forward and backward," noted Dietrich. This is the end of my 20th year at the College, which is a wonderful time to reflect on the exciting things that we've been able to accomplish over the course of the last two decades, and look forward to even better things in the years to come."

To begin the program, The LVC Chamber Orchestra will perform Beethoven's "Overture to Prometheus." In a unique twist, Dietrich will lead the orchestra from the Concertmaster position. "This is an exciting and challenging way to play," added Dietrich. "It requires a great deal more listening and engagement from the players-in many ways far more than when I'm actually conducting."

Koch will follow the opener with the delightful aria, "Ah! Je veux vivre" from Gounod's opera Romeo et Juliette. Pell will then join the orchestra's string players for a movement from Eric Ewazen's oboe concerto, "Down a River of Time." The concert's first half will conclude with the American premiere of Strohman's "Primordial Springtime."

"Primordial Springtime" was originally written for the Lebanon Valley College Symphony Orchestra's spring 2014 tour of Ireland. It takes the listener on a musical journey through a typical day on this planet about three billion years at the end of the Archaen Eon, depicting the hellish conditions under which ancient life began and flourished in the oceans.

Strohman graduated from LVC in 2008 and has always enjoyed a diverse yet extensive musical background. From an early age, he studied and pursued trombone, piano, and music composition, winning numerous accolades in all three areas. He has performed and collaborated as either a trombonist or pianist with many internationally renowned musicians-including various present and former members of the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, United States Marine Band, Canadian Brass, Boston Brass, and American Studio Orchestra. Strohman has taught various courses, lessons, and master classes at a variety of institutions, including Temple University, Lebanon Valley College, Immaculata University, and Dickinson College. His compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by a wide range of ensembles and individuals throughout the greater Philadelphia and Harrisburg metropolitan areas.

Strohman currently serves as a contributing faculty member in low brass at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. He earned his doctor of musical arts in trombone performance with a minor in music theory from the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University in 2014. He also holds a master of music in trombone performance from Temple, two bachelor of arts (trombone and piano), and a bachelor of science in physics from Lebanon Valley College. His former teachers include Matthew Vaughn, Glenn Dodson, James Erdman, Dennis Sweigart, Scott Eggert, and Rodney S. Miller.

"The second half of the program will feature alumni prominently, with about 70 graduates participating," said Dietrich. "After a big rehearsal Sunday morning, the alumni will join the full orchestra to perform "Hoe-Down" from Copland's Rodeo, which I programmed on my very first concert at LVC 20 years ago." This will be followed by a favorite of Dietrich's that highlights the string members of the orchestra, Melodia in A Minor by Piazzolla.

Next, the combined group will perform "Nimrod" from Elgar's Enigma variations, a fitting tribute to all of the "old friends" who come back to perform according to Dietrich. The concert's program will conclude with the final movement from Tchaikovsky's epic Symphony No. 5 in E Minor.

Dietrich, a native of Bozeman, Mont., joined the faculty of Lebanon Valley College in 1995. As the Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professor of Instrumental Music, he directs the LVC Symphony Orchestra; teaches conducting, string methods, applied violin, and viola; and coaches chamber music ensembles. He has studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. He has a master of music in violin performance and a doctorate in violin performance and conducting, both from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As a soloist, and member of the Majore Trio and Duo Terlano, Dietrich has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Austria, Germany, and Italy. He has released two CDs-Solo Journeys, which includes the world premiere of Dr. Scott Eggert's "Adagia" for solo violin, and the Duo Terlano recording, Whimsies.

Dietrich's students have been prizewinners and finalists in state and national competitions, and have been accepted into leading undergraduate and graduate music programs. Many have gone on to become successful teachers and performers in their own right.

When he is not either teaching or performing, Dietrich can often be found backpacking through the wilds of Montana, cross-country skiing, fly-fishing on a secluded stream, or cooking elegant meals with his wife, cellist Marie-Aline Cadieux.

Lebanon Valley College offers numerous public performances by students, faculty, and guests of the College throughout the semester, many of them free and open to the public. Visit www.lvc.edu/music/events.aspx for the list of spring recitals.