Civic Symphony of Green Bay to Open Season With Beethoven ‘Eroica,’ Lalo, and More ~ October 5th

Posted on 9-26-2019

The Civic Symphony of Green Bay will open the 25th season with its first concert at the Meyer Theatre on October 5, 2019, at 7 p.m. The concert will feature Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3,” Lalo’s “SymphonieEspagnole,” Charles Young’s “Fanfare to the Northern Sky”, and Seong Hee Moon’s “From Darkness into Light.”

Ludwig van Beethoven’s third symphony is known as the “Eroica” symphony. Beethoven originally wrote this symphony in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte, but later changed the dedication to honor Prince Franz Joseph after Bonaparte declared himself the emperor of France. He later titled the piece “Eroica” because of its heroic sound and wrote an inscription on the piece that it was composed to “celebrate the memory of a great man.”

Edouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole” is a dramatic romantic piece for solo violin and orchestra. The piece will feature Wen-Lei Gu, a world-renowned violinist, who holds the position of Associate Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Charles Young’s “Fanfare for the Northern Sky” was commissioned by the Civic Symphony of Green Bay in 1998. People living during the Middle Ages in Europe believed the northern lights were heavenly warriors battling in the sky. Young’s “Fanfare for the Northern Sky” pays tribute to the legends inspired by the northern lights. Young was a music professor at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point until 2017 and currently is associate dean at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Ohio.

“From Darkness into Light” by Seong Hee Moon was inspired by scriptures in the Bible referring to times of darkness and coming out into the light.  Moon is a music professor at Sung Kyul University in Korea and is also the sister of Seong Kyung Graham, the conductor of the Civic Symphony of Green Bay.

The Civic Symphony of Green Bay is made up of volunteer musicians who come from many backgrounds. They are doctors, engineers, teachers, professional musicians, and more.

The concert will be sponsored by Lin Law, LLC and Orthodontic Specialists of Green Bay (OSGB). 

There will be a pre-concert gala and dinner at Backstage behind the Meyer Theatre before the concert. The dinner includes a 3-course meal with your choice of a chicken, fish, or vegetarian dish. The doors at Backstage open at 5 p.m. and the dinner starts promptly at 5:30pm.

For more information about the concert and/or dinner, please visit https://gbcivic.org/events/.