CENTERVILLE —
The Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Robert McConnell, will continue its 61st season with a powerful and exciting winter concert series with guest appearances by two SEISO Young Artists: pianist Heather Gillis and clarinetist Surekha Mullangi. In addition, there will be rich performances of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in c minor “Little Russian,” Pohjola’s Daughter by Sibelius and the mysterious Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas.
The first concert will be held Saturday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m. in Burlington’s Memorial Auditorium. Two additional performances will be given Sunday, Feb. 12, 3 p.m. in St. John Auditorium (Indian Hills Community College) Ottumwa and 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel Auditorium at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant. The SEISO Winter Concert Series is sponsored through the generosity of the Burlington Hawk Eye.
SEISO is proud to present clarinetist Surekha Mullangi and pianist Heather Gillis as co-winners of the 2011 Marilyn Minford McCoid Young Artist Competition. In December 2011, Surekha and Heather tied for first place honors out of a field of 8 extraordinarily talented high school musicians.
Surekha Mullangi was inspired to study music when she was in the first grade when a classmate played a song on the piano in music class. “I found it really amazing that she could make such beautiful sounds on the piano and I desired to be like her and study music.” Following her dream, Surekha has been playing the clarinet for seven years and has studied music in general for ten years. Her teachers include Sue Kristensen, Leigh Pirtle, Claudia Lyons, Derrick Murphy, Diana Novak, Millie Comisky and Carmen Lachnitt. She is a three-year Iowa All-State musician and has played with the Augustana College, Western Illinois University and University of Iowa honor bands. A Burlington High School senior, Surehka plays clarinet as section leader in her high school band and also plays in the Southeast Iowa Band and Burlington Municipal Band. For the SEISO winter concerts, she will also serve as part of the orchestra in the clarinet section. Surekha, the daughter of Kumar and Santa Mullangi, plans to major in music and biology in college while following a pre-med track. Surekha will perform the second and third movements from Carl Stamitz’s Concerto No. 3 in B Flat Major.
Heather Gillis became interested in music when she started taking piano lessons at the age of 10. At that point it was a favorite hobby of hers, but as she spent more time with music, she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “I love the inspiration that is in music, and I think that’s why it interests me. It’s something I connect to.” Heather is a home-schooled junior who plans to continue her education in college with majors in music education and piano performance. When she isn’t practicing (an average of 20 to 24 hours a week), she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, art, singing, church, writing music, teaching piano lessons and learning about composers. Heather has 2 brothers and 2 sisters and is the daughter of Cary and Marsha Gillis of New London. She has studied piano with Nancy Martin, Sarah Zihlman and currently with Leigh Pirtle. Heather will perform the second movement from Brahms’ Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83.
Make the most of your concert experience by attending the ‘Prelude.’ Music Director Robert McConnell will be on hand 45 minutes before performances in Burlington, Ottumwa and Mt. Pleasant to talk about the music and the Orchestra’s young artists. ‘Prelude’ is supported through a grant from the Charles W. Rand Memorial Lecture Fund in Burlington and is offered free of charge to all audience members.
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SEI Orchestra presents winter concert series
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