On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra salutes the Arts with a concert that practically brings the orchestra into the audience’s laps.

In this program conceived by Maestro David Hagy, the orchestra members begin in the pit and around the audience. They will present a “surround-sound” offering of Corigliano’s “To Music” followed closely by Schubert’s “An die Musik,” the piece on which the Corigliano is based.

Soprano Megan Cleaveland will “hit the heights” when she sings Mozart’s “Popoli di Tessaglia,” an aria featuring the highest notes ever written for soprano, and then the curtain opens to present the Piedmont Dance Theatre’s original choreography to Mozart’s familiar and well-loved “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.”

Intermission gives the crew time to return the orchestra to the stage for their performance of selected movements from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Keppel Auditorium on the Catawba College campus.
Soprano soloist Megan Ann Cleaveland is a vocal performance major at the UNC School of the Arts. Last year she won the “Honoring Jane Dillard” award at the Charlotte Opera Guild competition. Currently Ms. Cleaveland is soprano section leader at Calvary Moravian Church in Winston-Salem. As someone who can sing “coloratura,” she belongs to a small, talented group in the world who can manage “elaborate ornamentation in vocal music.”

The Piedmont Dance Theatre is no stranger to the Keppel stage having collaborated with the Salisbury Symphony on “The Nutcracker” for the past six years. Rebecca Wiley‘s choreography always includes humor and whimsy, and Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” will surely allow for that.

The Program Notes for this concert provide a rich background to both the composers and their compositions. Written by Dr. Renee McCachren, professor of Music at Catawba College, they may be read in their entirety on the Symphony’s website: salisburysymphony.org

Tickets are $22 for adults, $6 for students, and $4 for children ages 8 and younger. Concert tickets are available at Rowan County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Belk (Salisbury Mall), Sidewalk Deli, Green Goat Gallery (Spencer), Crescent Pharmacy (Rockwell), and Silver Showcase (Landis). Tickets may be purchased also through PayPal at www.salisburysymphony.org or by credit card by calling the Symphony office at 704-637-4314. The box office will open at 6:30 p.m. the evening of the performance.

Glasses of wine and other refreshments will be sold during intermission by the Salisbury Symphony Guild, with proceeds going to the Symphony’s concert programs. And for couples who would like to make a night of it, the Symphony has partnered with DJ’s and Ethos restaurants to offer a discount package. Called “Symphony in E-ats major”, it offers a 25% discount on concert tickets and a 15% discount on dinner that same evening.