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2015-2016 Season, Issue 3www.decaturorchestra.com

Welcome!We appreciate these newmembers:

Ivory BatonMaggie Parker-BrownLarry and Joann Holmes

ScholarshipAuditionsFriday, March 18 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.Piano Auditions

Friday, March 18 3:00 – 5:30 p.m.Percussion Auditions (andInstrumental Auditions with aSaturday schedule conflict)

Saturday, March 19 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.Instrumental Auditions

10 instrumental privatelesson scholarships, 7 summer campscholarships, and 2 piano private lessonscholarships will beawarded. Auditions will be held at thePerkinson Music Building on the campus of MillikinUniversity. Applications and details are available on the website(www.decaturorchestra.com)with a March 4application deadline.

From The PresidentShirley Swarthout

The second half of this year’s concert season is upon us, and what excitement it promises!This winter we have, not one, but two “Young Artist” concerts! What’s more, each

concert will be conducted by a finalist candidate for MDSO Music Director/Conductor. Almost a year ago, Millikin initiated a search process to seek candidates qualified to

succeed Dr. Michael Luxner, who earlier hadannounced his plans to retire at the end of the2015-2016 school year. The first step waspreparing the job description and invitingapplications for the position: MusicDirector/Conductor of the Millikin-DecaturSymphony Orchestra and faculty member in the Millikin University School of Music.

After reviewing numerous applications, conducting phone interviews, and contactingreferences, the search committee selected two finalists. Dr. Martha Placeres is the guestconductor for the Feb. 6 concert, and Dr. Sergey Bogza for the March 5 concert.

Be sure to look inside this issue for a synopsis of each candidate’s experience andachievements. Both candidates in 2014 completed a Doctor of Musical Arts with emphasis inOrchestral Conducting, and both come highly recommended by multiple individuals who

provided references.Having the potential new music directors on campus to guest conduct adds a level of

excitement to the always-delightful Young Artists concerts. This year Millikin named five ‘youngartists’ as winners in the School of Music’s annual concerto-ariacompetition. These talented students have the uniqueopportunity to perform as soloists with the full MDSOorchestra. Their names, along with the selections they willperform, are listed inside.

Also in this issue we pay tribute to Betty Ploeger, whoserved as the Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur’s firstpresident. Betty was a strong force in the formation of theguild, and steered the new organization through its first twoyears, 1974-1976. The guild’s activities and level of supporthave grown exponentially since those early years, but our aimsremain true to the purposes defined by our founders; chiefly, topromote and support symphonic music.

If you haven’t yet done so, circle Feb. 6 and March 5 on yourcalendar now! Call the Kirkland box office (217) 424-6318 fortickets, come and hear two fabulous concerts, and greet ourguest conductors and the Young Artists at the after-concertreception in the Kirkland lobby. We’ll see you at thesymphony!

Shirley SwarthoutPresident, Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur

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2015-2016 Board of DirectorsSam Kershaw, Immediate Past-President

Shirley Swarthout, PresidentMaya Fombelle, VP FundsDevelopment

Kay Villarreal, VP AudienceDevelopment

Mary Gendry, VP GuildDevelopment

Marilyn Mertz, VP EducationDevelopment

Ruth Cortright, SecretaryJohn Benda, TreasurerPeggy Ruff, Asst. TreasurerJon French, AuditorMichael Luxner, OrchestraConductor

Linda ArendsKarin BetzerRamona BordersDave BrandonKathy BrownKathy CrouchKim FouseTed HartleyDee KellerJim KramerDon MartinCarol SudduthChristine TsigolaroffRobert TylerLarry Wade

Founding Member Betty Farley PloegerBetty Farley Ploeger, 85September 3, 1930 – October 24, 2015

Betty Ploeger, a founding member of the Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur, was itsfirst president. Without her involvement, the guild may not have existed.

Betty graduated from Millikin University where she was a member of Alpha ChiOmega sorority. Later, she became a member of the National Music Educators Associationand a Patroness for Nu Chapter at Millikin of the music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota.

Betty continued to teach private piano lessons well into her 80s. Students from thegreater Decatur area commuted to Monticello to take piano lessons from Betty.

Betty is survived by a daughter, Amy Margaret Ploeger of Oak Creek, Colorado; onegrandson; and two sisters. Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Art, and daughter,Joanna Stephanie Winovich.

Mark Your Calendars for Upcoming PerformancesFebruary 6 Conductor Candidate/Young Artists Concert No. 1, Kirkland Fine Arts

Center, 7:30 p.m.

March 5 Conductor Candidate/Young Artists Concert No. 2, Kirkland Fine ArtsCenter, 7:30 p.m.

April 16 April Concert, Kirkland Fine Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.

April 17 Decatur Youth Symphony Concert, Kirkland Fine Arts Center, 2:00 p.m.

May 3 Lullaby Concert, Decatur Public Library, 6:00 p.m.

“Having the candidates guestconduct adds a level of excitementto the always-delightful YoungArtists concerts.”

January 2016

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Sergey Bogza is the Artistic Director of the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, MusicDirector and Conductor of the Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra, and is anactive composer and pianist. A native of Taganrog, Russia, he earned a Doctor ofMusic from the University of Minnesota, Master of Music from CentralWashington University, and Bachelor of Music from Portland State University. Previously, Mr. Bogza was Music Director of the Heartland SymphonyOrchestra, Hyperion Singers, and assistant conductor/instructor at CentralWashington University. Mr. Bogza has been invited to conduct the BerlinSinfonietta, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music orchestras, and has conductedthe Discovery Series at the Oregon Bach Festival for three consecutive years. During his time at University of Minnesota, Mr. Bogza premiered two American operas, Sister Carrieand Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern by Grammy Award-winning composers Robert Aldridge and HershelGarfein. He also led productions of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Smetana’s The BarteredBride, served as assistant to Mark Russell Smith, and led the campus orchestra program. In addition to his work on the podium, Mr. Bogza is an internationally performed composer. Withover 40 compositions and arrangements, his works have been performed across the U.S. and featured atthe New Music Festival in Kazan, Russia. His composition Remember premiered in 2013, and has sincebeen performed in Germany and Russia. Mr. Bogza’s doctorate dissertation featured a multi-mediapresentation of his chamber orchestra transcription of Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote; he is working onsimilar transcription for Rite of Spring and Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche.

CONCERT PROGRAM MARCH 5, 2016Mozart Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat, Op. 19 (1st mvt) Jared Rixstine, Piano

Handel “Let the Bright Seraphim” from Samson

Rossini “Una voce poco fa” from Barber of Seville Amy Mazzeo, Soprano

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

MDSO Conductor Candidate/Young Artist Concert #1Martha Placeres, Guest Conductor

Originally from Mexico, Martha Placeres is known for her passion formusic and music education. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from the PueblaState Conservatory of Music in Violin Performance, a Masters in MusicEducation from the University of Texas at Brownsville, and a Doctorate inOrchestral Conducting from Texas Tech University.

As a music educator advocate, Dr. Placeres created and developed thestring and orchestra programs at UT Brownsville and was also involved inbringing string education to the city of Brownsville by founding multiplestring projects. She is an active orchestra clinician for the Texas MusicEducators Association and the Topeka, Kansas area. As a certified member

of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, she is constantly asked to judgefor Solo and Ensemble Contests in different UIL Texas regions.

A recognized conductor of her generation, Dr. Placeres has been featuredwith different orchestras in Mexico such as the Puebla State Conservatory ofMusic Youth Symphony, Puebla State Conservatory of Music SymphonyOrchestra, Puebla State Symphony Orchestra, University of TamaulipasSymphony Orchestra, and Camerata Angelopolitana. Internationally, she hasguest conducted the Lustenau Sinfonietta in Austria and the CamerataAngelopolitana on its tour of Italy. Given her outstanding musical career andconstant advocacy for women conductors, she was given the Woman of the Year in the Arts Award “Carmen Serdán Alatriste” from the State of Puebla.

In 2014 she was appointed Executive Director of the American Orchestra andBand Conducting Symposium in Puebla, where she teaches orchestral conductingto band and orchestra conductors and students from all major music schools in theregion.

Dr. Placeres’s area of research is Latin American Music for chamber andsymphony orchestra, and her work has been published in “Síntesis,” one of the mostimportant newspapers in Puebla. She is currently the Orchestra Director at WashburnUniversity and performs as a violinist in chamber music in Mexico and the U.S.

CONCERT PROGRAM FEBRUARY 6, 2016Sibelius Finlandia, Op. 26

Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 (1st mvt) Kyle Johnson, Piano

David Concertino No. 4 in E-Flat, Op. 4 John Robinson, Trombone

Weber “Kommt ein schlanker Bursch” from Der Freischütz

Duparc “L’Invitation au voyage”

Gounod “Ah! Je veux vivre” from Romeo and Juliet Abigail Karnes, Soprano

Dvorák Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88

MDSO Conductor Candidate/Young Artist Concert #2Sergey Bogza, Guest Conductor

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Each newsletter is available atwww.decaturorchestra.comunder the News tab.

Post Concert ReceptionsJoin other symphony-goers inthe Kirkland Lobby followingeach concert for a reception,sponsored by the SymphonyGuild. All who attend theconcert are welcome toattend.

The receptions provide asplendid opportunity to greeteach conductor candidate.You won’t want to miss them!

FEBRUARY 6 CONCERT – YOUNG ARTISTS

MARCH 5 CONCERT – YOUNG ARTISTSKyle Johnson John Robinson

Jared Rixstine Amy Mazzeo

Abigail Karnes

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