Columbus Symphony Wraps Up 2021-22 Masterworks Season with Beethoven 9 Grand Finale May 13 & 14
Music Director Rossen Milanov, the Columbus Symphony, and a quartet of celebrated guest vocalists wrap up the 2021-22 Masterworks season with Beethoven’s grand Symphony No. 9, featuring Beethoven’s setting of poet Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” that celebrates the universal ideas of fellowship, humility, forgiveness, and optimism.
Prelude – At 6:30 pm each evening, patrons are invited to join WOSU Classical 101’s Christopher Purdy near the main stage for a 30-minute, pre-concert discussion.
The Columbus Symphony presents Beethoven 9 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14, at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased in-person at the CBUSArts Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.columbussymphony.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939.
About Rossen Milanov
Respected and admired by audiences and musicians alike, Rossen Milanov is currently the music director of the Columbus Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and newly appointed chief conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana.
Milanov has established himself as a conductor with considerable national and international presence. He recently completed a seven-year tenure as music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) in Spain. Nationally, he has appeared with the Colorado, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Seattle, and Fort Worth symphonies, National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Link Up education projects with Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and with the Civic Orchestra in Chicago.
Internationally, he has collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra de la Suisse Romand, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Aalborg, Latvian, and Hungarian National Symphony Orchestras and the orchestras in Toronto, Vancouver, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic (South Africa), Mexico, Colombia, Sao Paolo, Belo Horizonte, and New Zealand. In the Far East, he has appeared with NHK, Sapporo, Tokyo, and Singapore symphonies, Hyogo Performing Arts Center, and Malaysian and Hong Kong Philharmonics.
About guest soprano Meroë Khalia Adeeb
Adeeb has been awarded third place in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, second place in the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation Inaugural International Vocal Competition, and second place in the PARTNERS for the Arts Vocal Competition to name a few. Recent performances include the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica(Tri-Cities Opera), Annie in the world premiere of The Flood (Opera Columbus), Frasquita in Carmen (Annapolis Opera), and Clara in Porgy and Bess (Fort Worth Opera and Teatro Regio di Torino).
About guest mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman
Praised for her “fine, warm mezzo-soprano voice,” Middleman Quinn recently won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions-Wisconsin District, received third place in the Ziering-Conlon “Recovered Voices” competition, and won scholarships from the Musicians Club of Women and Evanston Music Club. She is passionate about art song and concert work and has organized multiple benefit concerts for women’s shelters in Chicago.
About guest tenor Dennis Shuman
Shuman completed two seasons as an apprentice artist with Chautauqua Opera Company where he was heard as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, the roles of Governor, Ragotski, and Vanderdendur in Candide, and Gastone in La Traviata while covering Alfredo. He also sang the role of Gastone in La traviata with New Orleans Opera. Equally at home in concert repertoire, Shuman has performed the role of the celebrant in Bernstein’s MASS with Brandeis University, Wellesley College, and the Salisbury Singers of Worcester, MA. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, a Master of Music degree from Loyola University New Orleans, and is a graduate of the Opera Institute at Boston University.
About guest bass-baritone Robert Kerr
Known for his stage savvy, Robert Kerr’s foundation in opera began in musical theater. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times wrote of his Falstaff, “He made words matter and conveyed the self-delusion of this likable laughingstock…”