orchestra21

Drove this road yesterday on my way through here.

I love his music too, particularly the evocative, disappearing-world quality it shares with Mahler’s early Bohemian-inflected compositions. The experience of presenting Dvořák in Spillville this week was magical – the St. Wenceslas organ on which he played daily for several months towered over us during our performances there on Friday. Here’s a shot of the church I took after one of our educational concerts:

Also learned that Dvořák had secret spot by the Turkey River where he strolled with a bucket of pilsner provided by one of the establishments in town. Based on that alone I think I’ll be back in Spillville soon to do some more following in his footsteps …

Spillville, Iowa as it appeared in the summer of 1893, when Antonín Dvořák lived there with his family. Tomorrow I’ll be playing and conducting the composer’s wind serenade with my WCFSO colleagues at St. Wenceslas Church in Spillville [Dvořák accompanied Mass on its pipe organ almost daily during his stay]. Prior to our evening performance of the serenade we will introduce students from around the region to the history and significance of Dvořák’s Iowa sojourn, following up on a project we initiated several years ago.

115 years ago Antonín Dvořák conducted his Eighth Symphony at Bohemian Day of the Chicago World’s Fair. The orchestra numbered over 100, and the enthusiastic audience several thousand. The following summer the composer spent a summer in Spillville here in northeast Iowa. This past spring the WCFSO revisited Dvořák’s time in the American midwest through several performances [including a program for elementary school students] of the music he performed in our region.

Dvořák – Symphony no. 8, Adagio, opening
WCFSO – April 2008

For the past several seasons the WCFSO has hosted a side-by-side rehearsal with members of our community. This year’s event featured an inside look at the third movement of Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony. Local arts advocate Melody Parker of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier wrote about the experience of being onstage with us.

Music education and community engagement are two of my top priorities as music director of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. In general, I believe that efforts in these areas define the future of symphonic music in this country.

In advance of the 2008 WCFSO Youth Concerts I visited Edison School in Waterloo [with whom the symphony is a Partner-in-Education] and a diverse group of eleven other elementary schools in the Cedar Valley. Fourth and fifth grade students learned the basics of the orchestra, tried out their conducting moves, and then considered the history and significance of Antonín Dvořák’s visit to America and his stay in nearby Spillville, Iowa. Click on the image above to see my visit to Edison and read more about this year’s ‘Home & Away’ Youth Concerts.