The Wartburg Community Symphony concert Saturday, Feb. 9, will have a personal twist when the mentor of conductor Dr. Daniel Kaplunas performs as a violin soloist.
Levon Ambartsumian and his 14-year-old son, Alexander, who debuted at New York City’s Carnegie Hall at 10, will highlight the symphony’s Diamond Jubilee concert in Neumann Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
“We have been working with Dr. Ambartsumian for many years, and I wanted to bring him here ever since I came to Waverly,” Kaplunas said. “Sharing the stage with this incredible musician here in Waverly will be a special pleasure.”
Ambartsumian was a faculty member of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory for 15 years and now serves as the Franklin Professor of Violin at the University of Georgia School of Music. He brought the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, a group he began in Russia in 1989, to the University of Georgia.
Kaplunas earned his doctoral degree at the University of Georgia and has appeared as conductor and soloist with the ARCO Chamber Orchestra.
Since 1988 when he was allowed to travel outside the former Soviet Union, Ambartsumian has performed in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, South Korea and the United States.
The concert will open with “The Hebrides” overture recalling German composer Felix Mendelssohn’s trip to the Scottish islands. Levon will solo on three Russian compositions — Mikhail Bronner’s “Sleep My Child” and Efrem Podgaits’ “Kol Nidrei” for violin and chamber orchestra and “The Pretty Little Wedding Ring: Fantasy on Jewish Themes” for violin and strings.”
Alexander will solo on “Violin Concerto No. 1” by the German Romantic composer Max Bruch.
The soloists are sponsored by the Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation.
Tickets are available at the door for $15 for an adult and $5 for a student. Wartburg students with college IDs are admitted free of charge. For information, call 319-352-8200 or email wcs@wartburg.edu. A reception will follow the concert.
Levon Ambartsumian will conduct a master class in Orchestra Hall Friday, Feb. 8, at 3:45 p.m.