The New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving’s “Sundays at the Symphony” series for 2011-2012 concludes Sunday, May 20 with with the music of America – Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” Copland’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody” and Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony.
In addition, violist Karen Parks, winner of NPOI’s annual Richard Giangiulio Concerto Competition, will play the first movement of “Concerto for Viola in D Major" by Karl Stamitz.
The concert, under conductor Dr. Sergio Espinosa, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd. The afternoon also features the orchestra’s annual silent auction, which begins at 2:30 p.m., and continues during an extended intermission. The auction features items contributed by more than 80 Dallas-Fort Worth area arts organizations, theaters, museums, musical groups, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Ms. Parks is a high-school senior who studies privately with Barbara Allen of the Dallas Opera Orchestra. Starting on the viola at Lorenzo de Zavala Middle School in Irving under her mother’s teaching, the 17-year-old says she immediately became enamored with the instrument. Ms. Parks named her first viola “Clover,” and plays it to this day.
On May 23, Ms. Parks will graduate from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, located in the heart of Dallas’ musically-rich Arts District.
Attending high school at the Arts Magnet has been equally interesting and challenging, the young violist says, explaining that music theory and composition courses have exposed her to various musical forms. However, she says she most enjoys playing string quartets, and hopes to study chamber music in greater depth when she attends college as a performance major in the fall.
Dr. Espinosa serves on the faculty of The University of Texas at Arlington and is senior music examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organization in Wales, UK. Born in Mexico, he studied there, in Switzerland and in New York. He holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa. As a violinist he has performed in Spain, France and the United States. His intense activity as music educator has led him to give workshops and presentations in cities such as: Vancouver, Winnipeg and Calgary in Canada: New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Houston, Denver, and Boston, in the USA; Hong-Kong in China and Canberra in Australia.
The New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving is a community orchestra, made up of trained musicians who choose to continue to play while they serve in other professions: teaching, accounting, film-making and others. Since 1988, the orchestra has served audiences from Irving and throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
This concert is funded in part by the City of Irving through the Irving Arts Board.
General admission tickets range from $10 to $18. For tickets, call 972-252-ARTS (2787). For more information, visit the orchestra’s Web site at www.npoirving.com.
