”Funny, he doesn’t look that old!”
Well, David Hagy isn’t that old, but it’s true that he did have hair when he began leading the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra 25 years ago. Although there are rumors, it is not true that he was also 6 feet tall!
Under Hagy’s direction, the SSO has grown in size, talent, and reputation. Citizens of Salisbury and Rowan County have not had to leave home to hear magnificent music played eloquently. From Stravinsky’s seven-person The Soldier’s Tale to the monumental Mahler Second Symphony…from well-known composers such as Bach to Tan Dun’s beguiling Water Percussion Concerto…David Hagy has also stretched his audiences; and, like a good teacher, he leads them in the joy of discovery.
This celebratory season begins Oct. 12 with the North Carolina Symphony. Sarah Hicks, the NCS Associate Conductor, will conduct a program titled “Romance in the Air” of Mozart (Overture to The Marriage of Figaro), Berlioz (Love Scene from Romeo and Juliet), Weber (Overture to Der Freischutz) and Brahms (Symphony No. 1). Cloninger Ford/Toyota/Scion is the concert sponsor.
Hagy returns from Venice in time to lead the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra in the timeless family classic, “The Nutcracker,” on Dec. 15 and 16, with the Piedmont Dance Theatre. That will be followed by the Big Band Bash fundraiser Jan. 5.
Feb. 2 is the date for the first masterworks concert. “Awesome Arts” will explore all the arts, and the symphony plans to collaborate with other local arts organizations.
On March 16th, the concert titled “Grace and Grandeur,” sponsored by Bill and Nancy Stanback, features the graceful Ravel Homage to Couperin and Debussy’s Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra with UNCSA pianist Dmitri Shteinberg as well as the grand Brahms’ Fourth Symphony.
It’s “family” time in April. On Sunday April 7, David asks, “Why Not Play?” The question will be eloquently answered by the All-County Fifth Grade Honors Chorus as well as students from the After-School Strings program. The program will include a work Hagy wrote while in high school that the Indianapolis Symphony performed. The focus, as always, is on young people and their families, but this year there’s an additional focus on encouraging young people to consider taking up an instrument and learning to play it. Mrs. Lois Pruehsner, as Concert Sponsor, reminds us to keep the pricing “family-friendly.”
The season ends with our pops concert “Double Your Fun” with a centerpiece performance by Hagy and Concertmaster Daniel Skidmore of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. Sarah Kellogg, who was on the Symphony Board of Directors that hired David in 1987, will sponsor this “dessert” of an ending!
Season brochures will be in the mail soon; if you are not on the symphony’s mailing list, call the symphony office at 704-637-4314 to request a copy be mailed to you.