Jackson Harmeyer
19. Five New York Singers and a Ukrainian Pianist

Central Louisiana has two fantastic concerts to offer local music enthusiasts this weekend. Not only are the artists’ qualifications undisputed, but both concerts are also free and open to the public. So, take advantage of these opportunities to enjoy some great music.
Tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM, St. James Episcopal Church will close-out its 2013-2014 season with a concert dedicated to the music of Broadway. Entitled “The Great White Way,” tomorrow’s concert will feature four talented singers and an accompanist straight from New York City. In addition to mezzo-soprano Tynan Davis who has sung with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra several times in past years, the artists on tomorrow’s program include soprano Heather Hill, tenor Michael Coco, baritone Christopher Trepinski, and mezzo-soprano/accompanist Cathy Venable. This concert, as part of the St. James Episcopal Church Concert Series, has been made free and open to the public with the generous support of the McCormick-Smith Fund, Inc. The concert will be held at St. James Episcopal Church located at 1620 Murray Street near downtown Alexandria.

Sunday afternoon, the Jewish Temple of Alexandria will present a concert by Ukrainian pianist Pavel Gintov, a competitor in last year’s Louisiana International Piano Competition. At his concert Sunday, Mr. Gintov will play a wide variety of music ranging from classics like Haydn, Beethoven, and Chopin to modernists including Debussy, Scriabin, and Ernest Bloch. Plus, there will be music by the contemporary Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk. Described as a “poet of the keyboard” and a “musical storyteller,” Mr. Gintov has played around the world and has won several international piano competitions. His concert Sunday will begin at 3:00 PM at the Jewish Temple located at 2021 Turner Street in Alexandria’s garden district. As part of the Fuhrer-Bindursky cultural arts series, this concert will be free and open to the public.
For most local music enthusiasts, these two fabulous concerts should have you covered. But, for those who do not mind travelling, remember that tomorrow the Shreveport Opera will also be presenting Puccini’s Turandot as the final show of their 2013-2014 season. Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s final opera, Turandot tells the story of a bloodthirsty princess who threatens to murder any suitor who cannot solve her three riddles. This opera features one of the best-known tenor arias “Nessun dorma.” The show will begin at 7:30 PM tomorrow evening at the Riverview Theater in downtown Shreveport.
There will be much more in the weeks ahead for music lovers in central Louisiana. May 3, the Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Red River Chorale, and choirs of Northwestern State University will present Carmina Burana, a gigantic choral work full of power and energy. The following weekend among the festivities surrounding the AlexRiverFête the Kaminari Taiko drummers will return to Alexandria for another spectacular performance on their earth-shaking Japanese drums. So, stay tuned: MusicCentral will be here to keep you up-to-date on all the musical happenings here in central Louisiana.
JSH 14.04.25
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.
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