Luis Biava and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra will premiere Temple alumnus' William McGlaughlin's The Heart's Light, An Essay for Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, April 2nd, at 8PM in a program which also features Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57 and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The Clarinet Concerto will be played by Ricardo Morales, former principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, principal clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra and a faculty member at Temple University. The concert, which follows a performance at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, is presented by the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University.

Carl Nielsen wrote the Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57 in 1928, during a difficult time in his life; he was 63 years old and concerned with the unsettled state of the world. His attitude at the time parallels the bitter struggle which occurs throughout the concerto--a war between the tonalities of F major and E major. When hostilities seem to end, a snare drum incites the combatants to renewed conflict. Another explanation for this is the clarinetist, Aage Oxenvad, for whom Nielsen wrote the concerto, had a bi-polar disorder. Therefore, the concerto was poking fun at his constant mood swings. Maestro Biava also conducts the Temple University Symphony Orchestra in Ravel's arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
This is the first time the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, which is housed within the Boyer College of Music and Dance, has performed at Carnegie Hall. Of its Lincoln Center concert in 2007, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, ". . . it was all peaks. The concentration of energy represented gives the students a taste for how excellence feels firsthand. Conductor Luis Biava delivered long, clearly delineated arcs." The Orchestra has plans to return to Carnegie in the fall of 2009.

About Boyer College and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra

Comprised of 97 undergraduate and graduate students, the Temple University Symphony Orchestra's performances in recent years have featured a large representation of orchestral repertoire, as well as faculty and student soloists. In addition to New York performances, the Orchestra and Temple's combined choirs, consisting of 200 voices, performs annually to a sold-out house at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and other major venues in and around Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Luis Biava has been the Orchestra's artistic director since the early 1980's.

The Boyer College of Music and Dance offers a diverse curriculum, wide array of degree programs and exemplary faculty, preparing students for careers as educators, performers, composers and scholars. In addition to 300 concerts each year, the student ensembles perform annually in New York City at venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Boyer has another presence in New York through the Temple University Jazz Band, which performs at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola each spring. The faculty at Boyer is recognized nationally and internationally as performers, researchers, academic experts and scholars, garnering Grammy awards, major research grants and accolades from the press. Boyer College alumni include Broadway performer Hugh Panaro, pianist Marc-André Hamelin and NPR host and composer, Bill McGlaughlin.

William McGlaughlin, an alumnus of Temple University, began his musical studies at 14 and has since been heavily involved in the music scene. McGlaughlin performed as a trombonist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony and was the Associate Conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra as well as Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony. He debuted as a composer in 1997 and has served as host of the popular public radio program, St. Paul Sunday, since it's inception in 1980 and receiving the highest honor in broadcasting, the George Foster Peabody Award. McLaughlin is also co-host of Center Stage from Wolf Trap and Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin, currently in its fifth syndicated season. A new program debuted in fall 2007 with McGlaughlin as host - Center Stage from the Library of Congress. Compositions of note include a piece in collaboration with Garrison Keillor, Surveying Lake Wobegon, which premiered at the 2000 Ravinia Festival.

Ricardo Morales was appointed principal clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2002, and has also served as principal clarinet in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Florida Symphony. During his tenure with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, he soloed under the baton of James Levine in Carnegie Hall and on two European tours. He currently serves on the faculties of the Boyer College and the Juilliard School. Morales is acclaimed by the New York Times as having "...fleet technique, utterly natural musical grace, and the lyricism and breath control of a fine opera singer."

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
LUIS BIAVA, Conductor
RICARDO MORALES, Clarinet
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2 at 8PM
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall

WILLIAM McGLAUGHLIN: The Heart's Light, An Essay for Orchestra
NIELSEN: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or online at www.carnegiehall.org . Student and Senior Discount Tickets available at $10.