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IVSO hosts holiday concert in Ottawa

The Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Dan Sommerville, will present a holiday concert from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Ottawa High School auditorium, 211 E. Main St.

Soloist for the afternoon will be Tod Bowermaster. He is the son of the late Ralph and Barbara Bowermaster, longtime IVSO donors and volunteers. Tod Bowermaster is a graduate of Ottawa High School and 1984 graduate of Northwestern University, where he studied with Dale Clevenger and Richard Oldberg of the Chicago Symphony. He also was fortunate to study with the great bass pedagogue Arnold Jacobs. Bowermaster has performed as a soloist with the Honolulu Symphony, the Sun Valley Symphony and numerous orchestras around the Midwest. Winner of the 1999 Horn Competition and the 1982 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, Bowermaster continues to enjoy performing in both solo and chamber music settings.

Bowermaster has been a regular participant in numerous chamber music festivals nationwide, including the Kapalua Music Festival on Maui; the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine; Summerfest in Kansas City; the Innsbruck Festival outside of St. Louis; Strings in the Mountains in Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and the Landmarks Society Chamber Concerts on the island of St. Croix.

Bowermaster is in great demand as a teacher having been invited to give recitals and master classes at many of the top American schools of music. Recent teaching engagements have included being a guest professor with the horn class at Northwestern University and with horn students at the Indiana University Summer Music Festival, as well as the FEMUSC festival in Brazil.

Festival carols arranged by Dan Goeller will start off the evening, followed by a Christmas concerto by Arcangelo Corelli, known as the father of the concerto grosso. Corelli is one of the finest composers of Christmas concertos. The concerto for horn and orchestra will be performed by Bowermaster. Also on the program are the “Hansel and Gretel Overture,” a festival of Albert Burt carols, Carol of the Bells, “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin and “Sleigh Ride” by LeRoy Anderson.

Admission is by season membership or individual ticket and is available online at ivso.org or at the door. Adults cost $20. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade are free. College students with an ID are $5.

The IVSO is fully aligned with federal, state and La Salle County health mandates and recommendations.

The concert is sponsored by Wendy and Aziz Asphahani and Maze Lumber. The season sponsor is WCMY/WRXX radio. The concert is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ottawa High School auditorium is accessible to all people. For questions, go to accessibility@ivso.org.

Source: The Daily Chronicle

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