HERITAGE CONCERT SERIES
Sunday, October 20, 2013, Welte Hall, CCSU
(co-presented with the Polish Studies Program at CCSU)
Bizet – Symphony No. 1
Chopin – Piano Concerto
(Soloist and other program TBA)

November – OPERA
Richard Wagner – Der Fliegende Holländer, (The Flying Dutchman)
New Britain, New London, Middletown, Waterbury

HERITAGE CONCERT SERIES
Sunday, December 15, 2013, Welte Hall, CCSU
(co-presented with the Polish Studies Program at CCSU)
Annual Polish Christmas Concert
(Soloist and program TBA)

December 31, 2013, Trinity-On-Main Arts Center
Annual New Year’s Concert
Soloist: TBA

January – OPERA
Ullmann – Der Kaiser von Atlantis (or The Disobedience of Death)
New Britain, New London, Middletown, Waterbury

HERITAGE CONCERT SERIES
Friday, February 7, 2014, Welte Hall, CCSU
Bach – Brandenburg Concertos and More…

HERITAGE CONCERT SERIES
Sunday, March 30, 2014, Welte Hall, CCSU
(co-presented with the Polish Studies Program at CCSU)
Karol Szymanowski – Symphony No. 2 in B flat major
Brahms Piano concerto No. 2, in B-major
Neal Larrabee, piano

ANNUAL CONCERT WITH THE NEW BRITAIN CHORALE
Saturday, April 12, 2014 (Holy Cross Church, New Britain)
Karol Szymanowski – Violin Concerto No. 2 op. 61
Brunilda Myftaraj, violin
Karol Szymanowski – Stabat Mater, op. 53
the New Britain Chorale and the Paderewski Chorus

May 2014 – OPERA
Gioacchino Puccini – Madama Butterfly
New Britain, New London, Middletown, Waterbury

At the First Church of Christ - First concert in New Britain. CT

~ by Larry Kellum ~

Maestro Sylveen in Rehearsal Welte Hall 2011 (Photo by Paul Salina)

What is considered by most classical music aficionados to be the premiere orchestra of choice in Connecticut, the CT Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, is proudly celebrating its 15th anniversary in grand style, with a magnificent gala concert and dinner on Sunday Feb.10 at 4 p.m. at Central CT State University.

The event will feature the Orchestra in a Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, the orchestra’s concertmaster Brunilda Myftaraj in a Violin Concerto by Hennry Wieniawski, a musical surprise, and a spectacular dinner reception afterwards.The honorary chairman of the event is the Mayor of the City of New Britain, Mr. Tim O’Brian, and the event is co-sponsored by the Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair In Polish And Polish American Studies.

So how did the Virtuosi grow to what can almost be thought of as a musical community in Connecticut, not just a world-class orchestra of 20+ accomplished musicians who perform 25-30 concerts a year? Since its inception at the First Church on Corbin Ave. in New Britain in 1997-98, maestro Adrian Sylveen has always followed his mission to preserve the great traditions of classical and orchestral music, to showcase and promote local and regional talent, vocal and instrumental, and steep them in those great traditions, and to expand the general public’s awareness of our civilization’s greatest music through education and various community outreach programs throughout the state, but especially in New Britain, where the orchestra is home-based.

At least a half dozen times a year, more than 2000 children in the New Britain school system are entertained by mini-concerts and fun “seminars” where they are informed about and exposed to instruments, composers, styles of music, etc — all giving educators the opportunity to incorporate classical music into their curriculums at the earliest possible age. Furthermore, students of all ages — 6 to 60 can also enrich and pursue their musical talents by taking private lessons at the Virtuosi Music Academy or Summer Music Institute, located on the campus of Tunxis Community College.

During the last decade and a half, many notable and established musicians, European, Polish and American, have performed as guest soloists with the Virtuosi at various stages of their careers. The archives are very rich with such now prominent musicians as violinists Theodore Arm, Lily Francis and Jaroslaw Nadrzycki, Blanka Bednarz, Jaroslaw Lis, pianists Neal Larrabee, Slawomir Dobrzanski, Dmitri Novgorodsky and Rafael Lewandowski, cellists Rober DaMaine,

Jennifer Combs, Erick Dahlin, conductor Marzena Diakun, violist Steve Larson, clarinetist Tom Labadorf, flautists Jadwiga Kotnowska, Jill Maurer-Davis and opera singers James Shaffron, Michael Wade Lee, Jurate Sedaite, Trina Renay, Monika Krajewska, Kyoung Wha Cho, Garry Simpson, John Tsotsoros, Luck Scott, Daniel Borowski just to name the few. The Orchestra also premiered works of American composers such as Andre Anweiler, Michael Gatonska, and Katherine Jarzebowski among others, on stages at The Bushnell, Welte Hall, and various other venues.

Then, there are the collaborations, especially within the last ten years or so, with other major performing arts organizations in the state, the New Britain Chorale, the Middletown Concert Association, the Mystic Chamber Music Festival, the Mystic Ballet, and, of course, the New Britain Symphony, and the Connecticut Lyric Opera, which is celebrating its own 10th anniversary this season, and where Sylveen serves as Artistic Director. To date, the maestro and the CLO have presented such challenging operas as Verdi’s “Otello”, Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” and Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann”, as well as the more standard and easier to cast Puccini and Mozart favorites, and their first opera by Wagner is in the works in the fall of 2013. These operas always open at the Virtuosi’s mother theater, Trinity-on-Main in New Britain, and then “travel” to such venues as the Garde Theater in New London, Middletown High School’s Performing Arts Center and Naugatuck Community College in Waterbury. The Virtuosi is all encompassing!

The latest creation by Sylveen is the Magnum Opus series, in unison with the New Britain Symphony, which are concerts of more symphonic repertoire.

May 3 New Britain, 8 p.m. Trinity-On-Main Arts Center
May 10 New London, 7:30 p.m. The Garde Theater
May 11 Middletown, 7:30 p.m. MHS Arts Center
May 18 Waterbury,8:00 p.m. NVCC Arts Center

CAST:

Don Giovanni – Luke Scott >>>
Leporello – Nathan Resika >>>
Comendatore – Steven Fredericks >>>
Don Ottavio – Christoper Lucier >>>
Donna Anna – Jurate Svedaite >>>
Donna Elvira – Heather o’Connor >>>
Zerlina – Emily Hughes >>>
Mazetto – Ryan Burns >>>

Artistic Director / Conductor – Adrian Sylveen >>
Stage Director – Chris Browner  >>
Chorus Master – Jason Ferrandino
Chorus Coordinator – Fred Goff
Production Coordinator / Stage Manager – Nancy Russell
Set Design – Kris Podkowiak >>

Mozart’s brilliant score set to Lorenzo da Ponte’s witty libretto recounts the adventures of a callous libertine nobleman as reflected in the lives of the people he impacts – from the loyal, wise-cracking servant, to a jilted “on her way to the convent” former lover, to the violated woman on a quest to identify and punish the murderer of her father. And in one of the most terrifying finales in opera all of opera, he is a man who refuses even in the face of death to repent for his many wrongdoings. It’s this perfect blend of comedy and drama, cherished arias and ensembles with classical orchestrations that has been thrilling audiences for more than 225 years.

Dress Rehearsal photos

Rates (per season) and sizes:

Back Cover (inside and outside – 5 x 8 inch) – $1000
20 complimentary tickets to ticketed New Britain or Waterbury events
LOGO listing on the orchestra’s website (sponsor’s listing)

Full page (5 x 8 inch) – $350
4 complimentary tickets to ticketed New Britain or Waterbury events
NAME listing on the orchestra’s website (sponsor’s listing)

Half Page (5 x 4 inch) – $200
3 complimentary tickets to ticketed New Britain or Waterbury events

Quarter Page (2.5 x 4 inch) – $125
2 complimentary tickets to ticketed New Britain or Waterbury events

Business Card size – $100
2 complimentary tickets to ticketed New Britain or Waterbury events

All costs are tax deductible
Artwork in jpg or tiff format to be provided by the buyer.

Contact: Kathy Waite at:
e-mail: kathy.waite@thevirtuosi.org
phone: (860) 890-1227

The purpose of the Education Program is to introduce classical music to children. We take special pride in the orchestra’s educational offering. These concerts are an important part of our community outreach. Currently the Virtuosi has a music education program that reaches approximately more than 2000 children in New Britain with fun and inspiring programs that are part concert, part lecture, and in part a hands-on introduction to classical music and the instruments of the orchestra. Through our series of eight educational concerts in New Britain elementary schools, we provide children from a variety of economic and ethnic backgrounds with the opportunity to hear a style and quality of music. This program is very popular in these schools, and gives educators the opportunity to emphasize classical music in their school curriculum. School concerts feature a dialogue between the members of the orchestra and the student audience. Children learn about the different instruments in the orchestra, elements of style, information about famous composers, and other interesting facts from music history. The Program is sponsored by our sponsors and concerts are free for the schools. If you are interested in the Connecticut Virtuosi coming to your school, please contact the Orchestra office at info@thevirtuosi.org.

2012-2013 dates for the School concerts:

Thu Nov 1, 2012 – 9:00am – Lincoln Elementary School
Thu Nov 1, 2012 – 10:30am – JPII School New Britain
Thu Dec 13, 2012 – 9:00am – Smalley Academy grade 2, 3
Thu Dec 13, 2012 – 10:30am – Smith Elementary School New Britain
Thu Feb 7, 2013 – 9:00am – Smalley Academy grade 5
Thu Feb 7, 2013 – 10:30am – Slade Middle School New Britain
Thu Apr 11, 2013 - 9:00am – Vance Elementary School New Britain
Thu Apr 11, 2013 – 10:30am – Gaffney Elementary School New Britain