Celebrate holidays at APSU with “Clarksville in Vienna” concert on December 9th

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, TN – For more than 100 years, the Vienna Philharmonic has set aside New Year’s Day as a time to perform uplifting holiday pieces by Johann Strauss and his family.

It has become one of the great traditions in all of music, earning a sizable television audience in America in recent years, but a new, similar tradition has taken hold in Clarksville.

For the last three years, Dr. Gregory Wolynec, professor of music at Austin Peay State University, has brought the festivities to town a little earlier with the APSU Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Vienna in Clarksville: A Holiday Celebration” concert.

This year’s fourth annual performance begins at 4:00pm on Sunday, December 9th, in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building’s Mabry Concert Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

“In addition to the Strauss waltzes and polkas and novelty pieces, we’re going to do Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,” Wolynec said. “The plan going forward is we will always include a Viennese masterwork at these concerts. The rehearsals have gone great, and I’m really proud of the students’ efforts with one of the landmark works of all time.”

The program, based on concerts performed by the Vienna Philharmonic over the last century, will include such popular pieces as “The Blue Danube Waltz” and other works by the Strauss family.

The performances have been a great success in the community, with audiences clapping along with the traditional “Radetzky March” to close the program.

“It’s a great way to celebrate the holidays,” Wolynec said.

For more information on the concert, contact the APSU Department of Music at 931.221.7818.