Bates College orchestra to perform
The Bates College Orchestra, under the direction of William Matthews, the Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music, will perform a concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. The public is invited to attend free of charge.
The program includes Maurice Ravel’s piano concerto in G major with soloist Breelyn Wilky, a Bates junior from Randolph, N.J.; Ernst Bloch’s Suite Hebraique with Lewiston High School senior Rose Wollman, viola soloist; and Terry Riley’s 1964 work, In C. Matthews calls In C a landmark of American musical minimalism, that “consists of a glistening pulse on the highest register of a grand piano and 53 short melodic fragments to be played in time with that pulse.”
The three-movement Suite Hebraique is a “deeply-felt and spiritual piece that reflects Bloch’s interest in Judaica, ” Matthews said. The 1932 Ravel piano composition is cheerful and upbeat, combining “impressionistic splashes of orchestral color, Gershwinesque jazz phrases and a virtuosic solo piano part.”
Wollman, the daughter of Eric Wollman and Patricia Buls of Lewiston, has played with the Bates College Orchestra since 1996. A member of the 2000 National Honors Orchestra, Washington, D.C., she played with the Interlochen Arts Camp World Symphony Youth, All-State and All-Eastern orchestras in 1999. Wollman also has performed with the All-State Orchestra (1997-98), the Androscoggin Valley Community Orchestra (1995-97) and the Lewiston-Auburn Youth Orchestra (1994-95).
A student of Julia Adams of Portland, the young violist has played in a number of chamber ensembles, including the Portland String Quartet Summer Workshop. Wollman will give a solo recital at the Olin Arts Center in March when she will perform works by J.S. Bach, Rebecca Clark and Paul Hindemith.
Wilky, a biology and music major at Bates, studies piano with Bates artist in-residence Frank Glazer. She has played the piano for 10 years and participated in performances and competitions throughout high school, including a 1994 appearance with the Phoenix Symphony orchestra. At Bates, Wilky continues to teach and perform in ensembles as a soloist and as an accompanist.
