Beethoven Bash Equals Free T-shirts and Great Masterpieces

Oct 3, 2005

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 326-3136

SPOKANE: The Beethoven Bash will shake the Spokane Opera House Saturday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m.
when the orchestra will play the greatest masterpieces by the greatest master, Beethoven's third and fifth symphonies for a genuine Beethoven Bash.

Free Beethoven Bash T-shirts for everyone under 30 and a night of symphonic music from Music Director Eckart Preu and the Spokane Symphony orchestra will celebrate the famous symphonies of Beethoven. This concert also marks the first night of our Symphony Yes! Series Youth Exploration Series. The youth will get a backstage tour before the concert and meet the conductor and musicians along the way!

The night starts off with the Symphony No. 3, called The Heroic, which was originally dedicated to Napoleon (then in an emotional burst erased) and has been called a miracle even among Beethoven's works. Then, the most popular of symphonies The Fifth with the four most famous notes in classical music will complete the night's exhilarating experience!

Beethoven is a phenomenon who is popular with people of all kinds of backgrounds, the composer whom everyone can agree is cool. But there's a danger that we think we know this music too well. The challenge is to rediscover all the surprises, all the rough edges that are in this music and to recapture the powerful impression it made on the first people who heard it, Music Director Eckart Preu said.

This concert will be repeated in Coeur d'Alene on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. in Boswell Hall at North Idaho College.

Tickets range from $15 to $35 and are available at the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office, 818 W. Riverside, Suite 100 or 509-624-1200; all Ticketswest Outlets; 509-325-SEAT; 1-800-325-SEAT and at www.spokanesymphony.org

This concert is underwritten by the Don Herak and Family on behalf of Gonzaga University. In conjunction with the Beethoven Bash, Gonzaga University will present a series of Beethoven events to make this a weeklong event on campus. (See attached release.)

Gonzaga University
Press Release
Beethoven Bash Oct 10-14, 2005

Gonzaga Night at the Spokane Symphony has been an annual event sponsored by long-time GU benefactor Don Herak for many years. This year's program, held on October 14, 8PM at the Opera House, is entitled Beethoven in Vienna and will feature performances of two Beethoven masterpieces- the Symphony No. 3 Eroica and quite possibly the most famous piece of music ever composed, the Symphony No. 5.

This year, Spokane Symphony conductor Eckart Preu and GU Music Department Chair Robert Spittal have turned Gonzaga Night into a week-long Beethoven Bash, featuring performances by GU music students and faculty, and a visit to GU by Dr. William Meredith, a world-renowned Beethoven scholar.

Bill Meredith of the Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies is regularly invited to speak about Beethoven to people all over the world. At 4PM, Friday, Oct. 14th a he will visit GU's Jundt Art Gallery auditorium to present The Genius and Originality of Beethoven. SSO conductor Eckart Preu and members of the Gonzaga University faculty and Spokane Symphony will be on hand to join a panel discussion with Dr. Meredith. This is a public event, and free of charge.

Music Department students are presenting two concerts for the Beethoven Bash.

The GU Symphony Orchestra, Kevin Hekmatpanah, conductor, will present Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 on Monday, Oct 10 at 7:30 PM at The Met. Works by Rossini, Weber and Wagner are also on the program. Tickets are $7 general admission, $5 for non-GU students. Tickets are free to the GU community.

Music students and members of the faculty will perform a recital of Beethoven's chamber music Another Side of Beethoven at 7:30 PM in the Administration Bldg Auditorium (ad 101) on Wed., October 12. This concert will feature the Gonzaga String Quartet and Chamber Wind Ensemble, as well as student soloists.

Monday Oct 10, 7:30 PM at The Met , Free to GU Community, $7 general admission
GU Symphony plays Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 and works by Weber, Rossini and Wagner

Wednesday, Oct 12, 7:30 PM, GU Admin 101, Free
Another Side of Beethoven
GU String Quartet, Chamber Wind Ensemble, student soloists perform chamber music by Beethoven, 7:30 PM

Friday Oct 14, 4 PM, Jundt Art Gallery at GU, Free
The Genius and Originality of Ludwig van Beethoven featuring renowned Beethoven scholar Dr. William Meredith from the Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, and Spokane Symphony conductor Eckart Preu.