Saturday, April 26, 2025 - 7:00pm
1400 Commodore Blvd Melbourne, FL 32935
DVORAK Slavonic Dances, Op. 46
PISZCZEK Song Catcher: Variations on Native American Folk Songs WORLD PREMIERE
GRAINGER Irish Tune from County Derry
COPLAND Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo
KODALY Dances of Galánta
Music carries its own genetic code. It reveals who we are, and where we come from. It holds the identities of entire communities and has no respect for political boundaries. Music moves freely across borders, even when people cannot. This exciting program will feature five exciting works from around the world, showcasing classical masterpieces inspired by rich folk traditions. The orchestra, under the direction of principal guest conductor, Michael Hall opens with the lively Dances of Galánta by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, which combines traditional folk melodies from the composer’s home region with a symphonic context. Native American folk songs will also be highlighted in a new and thrilling work from Mark Piszczek, titled Song Catcher. The concert is rounded out with three very popular works from around the globe, Aaron Copland’s exciting Rodeo, Percy Grainger’s gorgeous Irish Tune from County Derry, and Dvorak’s electrifying Slavonic Dances.
Artist Information
Maestro Hall is the newly appointed Music Director of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada. He is also Music Director of the Kennett Symphony in Pennsylvania, a post he has held since 2014. Highly acclaimed for his intensity and spontaneity, Hall has appeared with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the Houston Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Symphoria, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Great Falls Symphony, the Bozeman Symphony, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Groundswell New Music Ensemble, and the Havant Symphony in the UK, as well as a return to the Tucson Symphony, with whom he has a special relationship and has been a frequent guest conductor in multiple concert series over the past nine seasons. Hall also works regularly with the Space Coast Symphony in Florida, where he is the newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor.
A passionate advocate for music education, both in the concert hall and in the classroom, Maestro Hall has conducted many noteworthy college and youth orchestras including the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University. Hall has also acted as Visiting Guest Artist, Conductor in Residence at Ithaca College’s School of Music, as well as Ball State University’s School of Music in Indiana.
Hall holds a Master’s degree in conducting from the University of Michigan, having studied with renowned conducting pedagogue Gustav Meier, and a DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he worked with Sir Colin Davis. While studying in England, Hall also held the position of Assistant conductor of the Havant Symphony Orchestra in the UK.
Recognized for his talent among his peers, Maestro Hall was a finalist in the International Conducting Competition in Besançon France and was awarded Third Prize in the Cadaques Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Spain.
Mark Piszczek (b. 1957) is a native of central Florida where his parents worked in the fledgling space program. A professional performer on both oboe and saxophone, Piszczek has a deep background in both jazz and classical music. He has led his own groups and worked as a studio musician for over thirty years. Piszczek's father was a devout fan of classical music and it played daily on the family phonograph. This early exposure to concert music and the presence of highly competent music teachers, instilled a love of music that later turned into a lifelong passion. The composer cites the music of Karel Husa, Bela Bartok, Hindemith, Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Ralph Towner as key influences in his early musical development. Piszczek studied oboe at the University of South Florida and The University of Wisconsin, Platteville. After years of performing and recording professionally as a jazz artist, he decided to return to his classical roots and received a master’s degree in composition at the University of Southern Maine in Portland, where he studied with composers, Elliott Schwartz and Dan Sonenberg. He has written hundreds of jazz compositions, a flute sonata, two woodwind quintets, a string quartet, four works for chamber orchestra, a brass quintet, a trio for clarinet, viola and piano, a symphony for winds and percussion, a major work for symphony orchestra, Songs from the Gulf of Sorrows, which was premiered by The Brevard Symphony Orchestra in 2016, a trio for flute, clarinet, bassoon and piano based on native American folk songs, a trio for woodwinds and a new orchestral work dedicated to Lalo Schifrin, Walter Scharf and Elmer Bernstein. He now resides in Melbourne FL. and performs with his Orlando based, progressive jazz group, Strange Angels as well as musical collaborations with lifelong friend, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Larry Williams.