Award-winning cellist Sterling Elliott to join the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra for “Brahms and More”

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 21, 2019
 
WILMINGTON – In the opening night of the 2019-2020 Masterworks season, Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Conductor Steven Errante conducts the Wilmington Symphony in “Brahms and More” on Saturday, September 21, at 7:30 pm at the Wilson Center (703 N. 3rd St.). The concert will include W.A. Mozart’s Overture to The Impresario, K. 486, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90. Featured guest artist is the 2019 Sphinx Competition 1st place Senior Division winner, cellist Sterling Elliott, in the brilliant and light-hearted Variations on a Rococo Theme.
 
The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms and More at the Wilson Center (703 N. 3rd St.) on Saturday, September 21, at 7:30 pm. Individual Tickets start at $17 and Season Subscriptions are still available starting at $68. Tickets can be purchased in-person at the Wilson Center Box Office (703 N. 3rd St.), or by phone at 910.362.7999 or online at www.wilmingtonsymphony.org.  
 
Pre-Concert Entertainment – Patrons are invited to come early and experience the Contemporary A Cappella genre of the UNCW High Seas jamming out without instruments! This all-male, student led, non-profit organization, will perform in the Lobby of the Wilson Center from 6:30 pm to 7:15 pm. 
 
About Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Conductor Steven Errante
Steven Errante has been Conductor of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and a member of the UNCW Department of Music faculty since 1986. He is also founding conductor of the Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestra and the accompanist for the Girls’ Choir of Wilmington. Dr. Errante has degrees from the University of Michigan and the Julliard School and has previously taught at the University of Michigan, Northern Michigan University, and the University of Richmond.
 
About cellist Sterling Elliott   
Professionally, Sterling Elliott has soloed with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and many more as well as a performance at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In 2015 and 2016, Sterling performed a seven-week national tour with the Sphinx Virtuosi, and in 2018 was a featured soloist on tour including a performance at Carnegie Hall.
 
He began his cello studies at the age of three and made his solo debut at the age of seven when he became the first-place Junior Division winner of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. Other notable accomplishments include 1st place in 2019 Camerata Artists International Competition, and grand prize in the First Presbyterian Young Artist Competition. Elliott received the 1st place 2019 National Sphinx Competition Senior Division through the Sphinx Organization which supports diversity in the arts and is open to all strings players of color in junior high, high school and college.
 
Sterling Elliott has enjoyed the honor of performing for cellist Yo-Yo Ma and performing alongside recording artist Jennifer Hudson. He currently studies with Joel Krosnick at the Julliard School working toward an undergraduate degree in cello performance where he is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.
 
About Composer W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered the greatest composer of all time. From being a child prodigy at age 8 writing his first symphony, he grew to compose over 600 works. Mozart’s Overture to The Impresario belongs to a 30-minute comedy with spoken dialog that he wrote as his entry for a private competition on the invitation of Emperor Joseph II. In what sounds like it should have been a scene from the film Amadeus, the other entry was written by Antonio Salieri. Mozart’s Overture brims with energy and lyricism, with no fewer than six distinctive themes practically climbing on top of each other to be heard in the first minute-and-a-half.
 
About Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky began taking piano lessons at age 5, but his fascination with music flourished at age 21 when he took music lessons at the Russian Musical Society, and soon after, becoming a composition student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Tchaikovsky is most celebrated for his ballet compositions, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, to name a few. He, though, loved the music of Mozart, and this admiration is clearly reflected in the Variations on a Rococo Theme. Originally the work was written for German cellist Wilheim Fitzenhagen, a colleague at the Moscow Conservatory. Award-winning cellist Sterling Elliott will have his opportunity to perform the brilliant and light-hearted Variations on a Rococo Theme.
 
About Composer Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer, is regarded as one of the classical music masters of the Romantic era. Composer Robert Schumann’s friendship promoted Brahms’ musical career. Leaving Hamburg, Germany in 1863, and settling in Vienna, Austria, Brahms flourished, composing some of his most significant works including Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 in 1883. The first movement of four has a dramatic sweep similar to that of Robert Schumann’s Third Symphony with which it also shares a rhythmic and metrical pattern. The second movement has a hymn-like theme played by two clarinets and two bassoons which alternates with more expansive music enjoyed by the larger orchestra. The triple-time movement with a yearning, makes up the third movement reflecting the melancholy melody first played by the cello section. The last movement begins with a rapid but shadowy theme that fits through the string section before gathering into more substantial material. As the momentum gathers for an ending, Brahms instead lets the energy subside into unexpected tranquility, and the symphony ends with a serene echo of the very beginning.
 
www.wilmingtonsymphony.org
 
CALENDAR LISTING
Wilmington Symphony Orchestra presents BRAHMS AND MORE
Saturday, September 21, 7:30 pm
Wilson Center (703 N. 3rd St.)
In the opening night of the 2019-2020 Masterworks season, Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Conductor Steven Errante conducts the Wilmington Symphony in “Brahms and More” on Saturday, September 21, at 7:30 pm at the Wilson Center (703 N. 3rd St.). The concert will include W.A. Mozart’s Overture to The Impresario, K. 486, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90. The featured guest artist is the 2019 Sphinx Competition 1st place Senior Division winner, cellist Sterling Elliott, in the brilliant and light-hearted Variations on a Rococo Theme. Individual Tickets start at $17 and Season Subscriptions are still available starting at $68. Tickets can be purchased in-person at the Wilson Center Box Office (703 N. 3rd St.), or by phone at 910.362.7999, or online at www.wilmingtonsymphony.org.