This Sunday, the "Voices of Russia" will resound through Emens Auditorium, as the Muncie Symphony Orchestra presents a concert including works by Stravinsky, Borodin and Koussevitsky.
The concert, which begins at 2:30 p.m., is dedicated to Muncie-area firemen, police officers, and EMT technicians for their service to the community. The decision for the tribute was made months before the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, said MSO executive director Cathy Levin, but the tragic of events of that date strengthened the need for recognition of the community's emergency personnel.
The concert will be opened with a performance by MSO Youth Solo Competition Steve Dingledine Senior Division Prize winner Kassandra Kocoshis, who will be featured on marimba in Kurka's "Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra."
Kocoshis, a native of Muncie, is a senior at Burris Laboratory School and has played percussion for seven years. For the past four years she has studied with Erwin Mueller, interim School of Music director and MSO principal percussionist.
Other young musicians will also be in the ranks of the MSO Sunday as part of the Side by Side Program. Eleven music students from the Muncie area, selected from an audition process, earned the opportunity to be mentored by MSO members and to perform alongside them during the concert.
When planning the concert's program, a Russian-themed lineup was not planned, said Conductor Leonard Atherton.
"We were looking at various pieces, and one of the pieces that came up was something the orchestra has not done for many years, which is the 'Firebird Suite,'" Atherton said of the Stravinsky work.
Next, Koussevitsky's "Concerto for Double Bass, Op. 3 "was brought up to feature the MSO's principal bassist, Hans Sturm.
"(Soloing in the Koussevitsky piece) is like the bass player's Mecca," Levin said.
Sturm, who is on the faculty of the School of Music, has earned an international profile for his work in both the classical and jazz worlds.
Once those two pieces were in place, Atherton said choosing a third work by a Russian composer seemed obvious.
Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia" was selected, partly because the musical parts would be accessible to the younger musicians performing.
"It's very atmospheric and very beautiful," Atherton said.
A reception honoring the local emergency personnel will follow the concert and will be hosted by Ball Memorial Concert.
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