Prairie Performances with Roger Cooper

From creation to demotion, Sinfonia explores the music of the spheres. The evening begins with Milhaud’s vision of Earth, inspired by African folk mythology and American jazz. Holst’s iconic The Planets tells a tale of heavenly bodies from Jolly Jupiter to Mars, bringer of war. We know the International Astronomical Union has demoted Pluto, but in tonight’s solar system, Pluto still shines among his kin in Matthews' Pluto the Renewer.
 

We'll have "Songs of Love," featuring the Eastern Illinois Symphony, the EIU Choral Ensembles and Collegium Musicum (Early Music Ensembles).

Roger's profile showcases Price's extraordinary voice and includes interviews with her former husband William Warfield and soprano Martina Arroyo. It describes Price’s childhood in Mississippi, her Metropolitan Opera debut that ended with an unprecedented 42-minute Grand Ovation, her rapid ascent in the opera world, and her farewell bow in Aida in 1985.

Often referred to as the dean of AfroAmerican composers, William Grant Still brought a fresh perspective to the concert hall. His music combines folk, jazz, blues and a whole lot of creativity into a bustling musical sound portrait of America.

Roger offers a biography of Marian Anderson, along with recorded selections of her music, and comments from contemporaries and younger vocalists whom she inspired.

Roger Cooper looks at the acclaimed bass-baritone’s life and work, examining the events that led to Warfield’s success in the world of classical music--as a concert artist, stage and screen actor, narrator and teacher.

We'll have an old-fashioned band concert from the 2012 Allerton Music Barn Festival featuring Robert W. Rumbelow, conductor; Yvonne Redman, soprano; and Elliot Chasanov, trombone. They’ll perform Armed Forces Salute, along with John Philip Sousa’s University of Illinois March and The Stars and Stripes Forever.

I'll bring you the Jupiter Quartet's concert from the 2012 Allerton Music Barn Festival. On the program are Webern: Langsamer Satz; Ravel: String Quartet in F; and Schubert: String Quintet in C with cellist Dmitri Kouzov.

The waltz - disarming, irresistible, sensual, charming--swept out of Germany and conquered Europe in the mid-18th century. Host Roger Cooper presents an evening of Viennese specialties from the 2011 Allerton Music Barn Festival with the Allerton Salon Orchestra. Johann Strauss’ famous Blue Danube Waltz will be one of the highlights.

During the month of August, Roger Cooper encores last year’s Allerton Music Barn Concerts in anticipation of this year’s festival, which begins September 1. Tonight, it’s music of the cabaret with Nathan and Julie Gunn, U of I jazz faculty members, saxophonist Chip McNeil, bassist Larry Gray and drummer Dana Hall.