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Topeka Symphony Orchestra hosts the US premiere for its “Goin Home” concert inside the White Concert Hall. For more than 75 years, the Topeka Symphony has offered performances to the community.
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Kevin Burton, executive director of Topeka Symphony Orchestra, opens the concert by introducing the orchestra members. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Washburn University.
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The group of violinists start their first piece of the concert. They performed “Symphony No.1 – US premiere” by De-qing Wen.
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Kyle Wiley Pickett, the music director and conductor of the orchestra, guides the group throughout the concert. He was the music director and conductor of both the North State Symphony in California and the Juneau Symphony in Alaska.
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The group of cello players perform “Symphony No. 9 in E minor” by Antonin Dvorak. The orchestra played for approximately 45 minutes.
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Pickett (right) introduces John Lee (left), guest artist, for the audience in the concert. Lee was the winner of the 2024 Kansas City Civic Orchestra Young Artist Competition.
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Lee performs piece variations on “Rococo Theme, Op. 33” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with the group. He was a finalist in the 2023 KC Symphony Young Artist Competition.
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The group of bass players lead their role in the concert. They performed a piece called “Allegro – Allegro Molto.”
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Pickett (right) welcomes Chinese-Swiss composer De-qing Wen (left) in the concert. Wen had been honored with concert portraits as well as master classes dedicated to his compositions.
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Oboe players of the orchestra perform in the group for the audiences. There were six oboe players who performed in the concert.
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Wen shares his experiences with the audience and group of members. Wen performed his own piece, “Dvorak’s New World Symphony,” with the group.
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A group of attendees present in White Concert Hall for the orchestra. More than 500 people were present at the concert.
On Saturday, March 29 the Topeka Symphony Orchestra concert took place in White Concert Hall. Kevin Burton, executive director for this orchestra, started the event addressing the new guests: John Lee, cellist player and winner of the 2024 Kansas City Civic Orchestra Young Artist Competition, and Duchesne Webb, composer of the new symphony.
Emily Winterburg, violist, is in her second year with Topeka Symphony Orchestra and described her enjoyment of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra.
“I love being around all these amazing musicians that have different backgrounds,” Winterburg said. “But we all come together for one thing, it’s for our passion for music, and we’re still learning new things each time we are preparing for a concert, especially one like this with our new piece that we premiered tonight, which is just absolutely amazing. So having those connections and still being able to learn through it is fantastic.”
Brianna Volkmann, french horn player, is in her first year with Topeka Symphony Orchestra and discussed how the piece performed at the event that was particularly challenging for her.
“Honestly, the piece tonight that we played …, ‘The Win,’ was pretty difficult,’” Volkmann said. “Lots of tricky runs and different things. A lot of us in the orchestra had a lot of tricky things to play, but I think it came together really well.”
Matthew Carlyon, double bassist, liked the community of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra. Carlyon explained the challenges that he felt in his career as a musician.
“There are always the challenges of your self confidence and your own self discipline,” Carlyon said. “The way to help with that is to trust in your own practice, to know that what you’re practicing is what you’re going to sound like when you play.”
After the Topeka Youth Orchestra on April 6 Sunday from 3 p.m at White Concert Hall, it would be the last performance from the Topeka Symphony Orchestra for this semester.
Edited by Stuti Khadka and Jeremy Ford
