World renowned composer and violin virtuoso Mark O’Connor will join the Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra Nov. 7 at the Civic Auditorium to put on a benefit concert for the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.
“This is a rare opportunity to hear on of the leading violinists in the world today,” said Thomas Heuser, music director of the Idaho Falls Symphony. “Very few individuals have been as influential in the American classical music industry as Mark O’Connor, both as a performer and composer.”
2012 Grand Master Fiddle Champion Jacie Sites from Rigby, Idaho, will join Mark O’Conner and his wife, the accomplished violinist Maggie O’Connor, on stage. Sites will perform a variety of fiddle competition repertoire with 30 advanced students from the local “Strings for Kids” program.
This is the third concert of the Idaho Falls Symphony’s 66th season and will benefit the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, which operates five shelters for the homeless in Idaho Falls. The IFRM provides shelter, food, clothing, life coaching and job assistance through programs designed to help homeless people transition toward self-sufficiency and a stable, productive lifestyle.
Tickets are $12-35 and can be purchased online at www.ifsymphony.org. Students receive a half price discount for all sections.
The general public can also enjoy a free “Improvisation Workshop” by Mark O’Connor on Friday, Nov. 6 from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium. Students and amateurs who bring their violins or other string instruments can participate in instruction on improvisation with Mark and Maggie O’Connor, using materials from the O’Connor Method.
O’Connor is no stranger to Idaho; he won his first national fiddling championship at the age of 13 in 1974 in Idaho. At the time, the Seattle native had only been playing the violin for two years.
Today, four decades later, O’Connor has sold over two million CDs as a recording artist, winning two Grammys and multiple Country Music Association awards. As a studio musician and artist he has appeared on more than 500 albums, including more than 40 albums that feature largely his own compositions.
An acclaimed composer, he is a founder and leading force in the New American Classical music movement. And his O’Connor Method™ of stringed instrument instruction (featuring entirely American music) has been hailed as a major contribution to American music education.
Source: Idaho Falls Symphony Press Release