The Toledo Symphony Orchestra to Perform at The University of Findlay Feb. 24

The Toledo Symphony Orchestra will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at The University of Findlay as part of the Concert and Lecture Series. The performance will be held in the Winebrenner Theological Seminary TLB Convocation Center, and it is made possible, in part, through the generosity of Marathon Petroleum Co. LP, Fifth Third Bank and Whirlpool Corp.

The orchestra will perform “Pictures at an Exhibition,” by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). Jennifer Frautschi will be the violin soloist for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and $10 for students. Admission for UF undergraduate and graduate students is free, but a ticket is required. UF faculty and staff may purchase tickets for $15. Tickets are available by calling the Box Office at 419-434-5335 or emailing boxoffice@findlay.edu.

Jeffrey Pollock, resident conductor, will direct the orchestra. He is known for the “musicality of his performances, his innovative concert programming and for his ability to make connections with audiences,” according to the TSO website.

“Pictures at an Exhibition” has been orchestrated nearly 30 times in the 135 years since its composition in 1874, but the most famous of these is Maurice Ravel’s 1922 arrangement. When the Ravel orchestration was performed in 1923, it was an immediate success.

In “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Mussorgsky pays tribute to his close friend Victor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter, who died in 1873 at the age of 39. The story behind Mussorgsky’s music is a reflection of admiration for Hartmann’s work and an expression of remorse at his friend’s untimely death. In an unfolding series of 10 stirring movements, each based on a drawing or watercolor that Hartmann had produced during his travels abroad, Mussorgsky created a lasting memorial to his friend.

Frautschi, Avery Fisher career grant recipient, created a sensation in recent seasons with appearances as violin soloist with Pierre Boulez and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Christoph Eschenbach and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, and at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Selected by Carnegie Hall for its Distinctive Debuts series, she made her New York recital debut in 2004. As part of the European Concert Hall Organization’s Rising Stars series, Frautschi also made debuts that year at 10 of Europe’s most celebrated concert venues, including London’s Wigmore Hall, Salzburg Mozarteum, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and La Cité de la Musique in Paris.

Frautschi’s 2011-12 highlights include the world premiere of James Stephenson’s Violin Concerto, a piece written for her, with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä; the Barber Concerto with the orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo Opera House in Naples, James Conlon conducting; and the premiere of Les Bijoux, a violin concerto by Richard Aldag, with the Napa Valley Symphony, and tonight’s performance with the Toledo Symphony.

Her growing discography includes three widely-praised CDs for Artek: an orchestral recording of the Prokofiev concerti with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony, and highly-acclaimed discs of music of Ravel and Stravinsky, and of 20th century works for solo violin. She has also recorded several discs for Naxos, including the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, two Grammy-nominated recordings with the Fred Sherry Quartet, of Schoenberg’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, and the Schoenberg Third String Quartet; and the Stravinsky Duo Concertant with pianist Jeremy Denk, which was released in April 2011.

She performs on a 1722 Antonio Stradivarius violin known as the “ex-Cadiz,” on generous loan to her from a private American foundation.