Grant Llewellyn will lead the N.C. Symphony in Salisbury on March 14.

David Hagy will lead the Salisbury Symphony at Livingstone College on March 20.

by Linda Jones

for Salisbury Post

TWO classical music concerts in one week? We must be mad! And, we areÉmad about music. Here's the schedule:

The North Carolina Symphony WILL perform in Salisbury this season. Their popular "Visiting Vienna" concert, originally scheduled for Jan. 30 and cancelled due to snow, will be performed in Keppel Auditorium at Catawba College Sunday, March 14, at 4 p.m.

Normally, the NC Symphony is not available later during a season if their concert is cancelled, so this is a fortunate event for Salisbury. Music Director Grant Llewellyn will replace William Henry Curry on the podium, and the program will stay nearly intact: Schubert's Symphony No. 5 will be replaced with Brahms' Symphony No. 4 and Strauss Jr.'s Overture to Die Fledermaus will not be performed.

However, Schubert's Overture and Ballet Music from Rosamunde, Strauss Jr.'s "Morning Papers" and Korngold's Straussiana remain. Jim and Gerry Hurley are Sponsors for this delightful concert.

This is Maestro Llewellyn's first visit to Salisbury. He is known all over the world for his exceptional charisma, energy and easy authority in music of all styles and periods.

Llewellyn won a conducting fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts in 1985 where he worked with major artists such as Leonard Bernstein. He has held positions with three European orchestras, was artistic director and then principal conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, conducted the Johannesburg (South Africa) Symphony Orchestra, and retains close links with the BBC Symphony Orchesta and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Born in South Wales, Grant Llewellyn lives in Cardiff with his wife and four children. He is sponsored in this concert by Edward and Susan Norvell.

Following close on the heels of the N.C. Symphony's rescheduled concert is the Salisbury Symphony's concert on Saturday, March 20.

The concert, "Breaking Tradition," will be performed at Varick Auditorium at Livingstone College at 7:30 p.m. On the program is music by Brahms (Haydn" Variations), Beethoven (Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"), and Barber ("Capricorn" Concerto). The "tradition" that is being "broken" is that usually Bach is the third composer when the traditional three "B" composers are presented, not Barber.

But Samuel Barber is an American composer worthy of classic status, according to Music Director David Hagy. And, presenting his Capricorn Concerto gives the orchestra the opportunity to showcase three of its principal chairs: Carla Copeland-Burns, flute; Anna Lampidis Glantz, oboe; and, Gregory Hall, trumpet.

Ticket prices for both concerts are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors (age 60 and older), $6 for students (ages 9-18), and $4 for children age 8 and younger.

Ticket outlets are Belk (Salisbury Mall), Convention & Visitors Bureau, A Step In Time, Sidewalk Deli, Green Goat Gallery (Spencer), and Crescent Pharmacy (Rockwell).

"Balcony For A Buck" is also offered for both concerts; simply arrive at the box office an hour before the concert and ask for "Balcony for a Buck" tickets.

Ticket information is available by calling 704-637-4314 or by visiting www.salisburysymphony.org.

Linda Jones is executive director of the Salisbury Symphony.