Gateway Chamber Orchestra to perform “Historic Seconds” concert at APSU on March 30th
March 21, 2014
Clarksville, TN – In the summer of 1802, Ludwig van Beethoven felt depressed. The famed German composer was going deaf, and, overcome by this reality, he isolated himself in the spa town of Heiligenstadt. He tried to distract himself by working on a new symphony, but by October, he still felt miserable.
“Little more and I would have put an end to my life – only art it was that withheld me,” he wrote in a gloomy letter to his brothers. “It seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce, and so I endured this wretched existence.”
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Clarksville’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra to host “Wind Serenades” concert at APSU February 9th-10th
January 22, 2014
Clarksville, TN – There’s a famous scene in the 1984 Oscar-winning film “Amadeus” where the Italian composer Antonio Salieri looks over sheet music for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Gran Partita” serenade.
Salieri’s face contorts into a mixture of agony and ecstasy as he images the sounds of that serenade’s “Adagio.”
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Gateway Chamber Orchestra To Host Second “Winter Baroque” Concert On December 8th
December 3, 2013
Clarksville, TN – In 1939, Italian composer Alfredo Casella performed a little-known choral work by Antonio Vivaldi. The piece was about 200 years old, but after two centuries of neglect, Vivaldi’s “Gloria” struck a cord with Casella’s audience. The Baroque masterwork, originally composed as part of the Catholic Mass, is now a holiday staple, performed in churches across the globe each December.
At 3 p.m. on Dec. 8, the Gateway Chamber Orchestra and Choir will feature the famed work at the Madison Street United Methodist Church during the GCO’s second annual Winter Baroque Concert.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Gateway Chamber Orchestra showcases string section with October 27th concert
October 17, 2013
Clarksville, TN – Are you familiar with Clarksville’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra? For the last five years, the ensemble – made up of Austin Peay State University music faculty and other professional musicians – has hosted acclaimed performances of classical masterworks and garnered serious Grammy consideration with their two recorded albums.
Still, the orchestra sometimes feels like a well-kept secret. That’s why they’ve kicked off the “Get to know the GCO” campaign this year, with the intention of showcasing the different components of this incredibly talented ensemble.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Gateway Chamber Orchestra brings powerful Mahler work to Middle Tennessee May 5th-6th
April 15, 2013
Clarksville, TN – In 1907, the great Austrian composer Gustav Mahler had a bad year. First, he lost his job as director of the Vienna State Opera. Then, in July, his young daughter Maria died after a brief illness. While grieving this loss, Mahler was diagnosed with a terminal heart condition.
In the months that followed, the composer found solace in a book of Chinese Tang Dynasty poetry titled “The Chinese Flute.” As he read the works, translated into German, a composition slowly took shape in his head.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Gateway Chamber Orchestra earning high marks for second album
February 10, 2013
Clarksville, TN – Last spring, Clarksville’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra quietly released its second album, “Chamber Symphonies,” featuring works by Romanian composer George Enescu and Austrian composers Franz Schreker and Arnold Schoenberg.
The group, made up of Austin Peay State University music faculty and other professional musicians, then took some time off for the summer break. When they returned to Clarksville last fall, the orchestra quickly set to work on one of its most ambitious seasons yet.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra – “Chamber Symphonies”
Gateway Chamber Orchestra to hold “Heavenly Strings” Concert February 11th
January 25, 2013
Clarksville, TN – In the late 1930s, the American composer Samuel Barber created a work for string quartet with a slow, hauntingly beautiful second movement.
That section of the composition proved to be so powerful that Barber soon arranged that movement as a complete work for an expanded string orchestra.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Gateway Chamber Orchestra recognized on 55th Annual Grammy Awards nominees list
December 10, 2012
Clarksville, TN – On Wednesday night, following a nationally televised concert in Nashville, the nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were announced.
Near the very bottom of that list of nominees, available online at www.grammy.com/nominees, was the category for “Producer of the Year, Classical,” and the name Blanton Alspaugh.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra – “Chamber Symphonies”
Gateway Chamber Orchestra and Chorus to perform “Winter Baroque” concert December 2nd
November 24, 2012
Clarksville, TN – In 1731, the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his Sacred Cantata No. 4, also known as “Sleepers, Wake,” to be performed on the 27th Sunday after Trinity.
It’s a remarkably beautiful piece from the Baroque era, but the timing of its performance was a bit unfortunate.
Gateway Chamber Orchestra
Music and visual art blend in Frankenstein!! Concert at APSU on October 1st
September 20, 2012
Clarksville, TN – Several times during the conversation, the name Leopold was whispered. The three Austin Peay State University professors were referring to a fictional character played masterfully by Bugs Bunny in the 1949 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoon “Long-Haired Hare.”
Barry Jones, APSU associate art professor, spoke in a quiet, reverential tone when mentioning the name. Kell Black, art professor, said it a bit more forcefully. But it was Dr. Gregory Wolynec, professor of music and conductor of the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, who almost shouted the name with gusto. He has a special fondness for the character since Bugs Bunny is in fact impersonating the famed British conductor Leopold Stokowski. [Read more]
