October was certainly a busy month for music lovers here in central Louisiana: it started with the week-long residency of the Shreveport Opera, but also included other great events like the Fifth Biennial Louisiana International Piano Competition and Tarzan of the Apes not to mention a host of others. November is not quite as busy it seems, but there’s still plenty happening to keep the music lover enthused.
Here’s one concert this weekend that I am personally looking forward to. Sunday, November 10 at 7:00 PM, renowned organist Ken Cowan will be coming to St. James Episcopal Church as part of their concert series. Well-regarded in his field, Cowan has not only toured the world giving organ recitals, but also currently serves as organ department head at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. When he makes his stop in Alexandria this Sunday, he will wow audiences with works by composers of no less stature than J. S. Bach, Franz Liszt, and Richard Wagner—this last with an arrangement of the familiar Ride of the Valkyries.
Next week we can look forward to the musical The Fantasticks presented by the LSUA Empty Space Players. And, before the month’s out, Red River Dance Theatre Company will put-on their annual production of The Nutcracker. More on these in my coming blog entries!
Finally, if you don’t mind travelling, remember, the Shreveport Opera will be presenting Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love this Saturday, November 9 at 7:30 PM at the RiverView Theater in downtown Shreveport. You won’t want to miss this bel canto masterpiece, especially if you enjoyed hearing the Shreveport Opera when they were here in Alexandria a few weeks ago.
Hope to see you at these exciting November events!
JSH 13.11.06
About Jackson. Jackson Harmeyer is a recent graduate of the Louisiana Scholars’ College—Louisiana’s designated honors college located on the campus of Northwestern State University. There, he studied music history, completing an undergraduate thesis entitled “Learning from the Past: The Influence of Johann Sebastian Bach upon the Soviet Composers.” Now living in Alexandria, he is one of the founding members of TicketCentral and will also be writing this season’s program notes for the Rapides Symphony Orchestra.