2003 Year in Review

A Golden Anniversary

The Clinton Symphony Orchestra celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this concert season. Its golden anniversary will provide a golden opportunity for music lovers in the Morrison area to enjoy three concerts of first-class music played by a superb ensemble of musicians. Musical selections from the first concert in April 1954 will be featured in the three concerts for the 2003-2004 season.

The orchestra’s autumn concert will be held October 25, 8pm, at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton; its winter concert. - Saturday, February 14, 8pm – is scheduled for the Morrison High School auditorium. The final concert in the spring – April 24, 8pm – will be performed at the Vernon Cook Theater at Clinton High School.

Its founding was a joint effort of Lowell Adams, the late Clinton High School music director, and the Clinton Junior Women’s Club; now, the orchestra serves a broad area both in Iowa and in Illinois. Its members and concert public are drawn from the many cities and towns in the area. For the fifth consecutive year, the orchestra has scheduled a regular concert performance in Morrison, thereby adding to the cultural integrity of the community.

The symphony orchestra has a wide-ranging repertoire, playing music from the baroque to the modern, Frescobaldi to Barber; from the purely classical to Broadway and motion pictures, from Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony to Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and John Williams’ Schindler’s List. In short, music to suit everyone’s taste is on the program this season.

In 1997, Steven Zike was chosen as principal conductor, a post he holds today. He shares the podium with Robert Whipple of Sterling, who will conduct the winter concert in February. Like Whipple, many of the players have served with the orchestra for several years, giving the ensemble a degree of professionalism not usually found in smaller venues. Too, the variety and difficulty of the repertoire are indicative not only of the skill of the orchestra, but also of its commitment to new music as well as to the standards.

The Clinton Symphony’s web site at

http://www.clintonsymphony.org

has more detailed information about the orchestra and its activities.

Support the making of good music; support the Clinton Symphony Orchestra.

by William Driver, Guest Columnist
October 9, 2003