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2010-2011 SEASON
September 5, 2010
Free concert, Dogwood Park October 10, 2010 Mozart, Mendelssohn and Strauss November 14, 2010 Beethoven and Prokofiev February 13, 2011 Vaughn Williams and the Derryberry Competition winner March 20, 2011 Haydn, Coates and Elgar April 17, 2011 Bernstein Season Ticket Subscription Form SUPPORT THE BSO 
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In 2009, Wu made her Alice Tully Hall recital debut as the winner of Juillard’s William Petschek Piano Debut Recital Award; MusicalAmerica.com named her its Artist of the Month; and she won a Vendome Virtuosi prize at Lisbon’s prestigious Vendome Competition.
Works by two titans of the 20th-century Soviet Union, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, will leave you breathless at the season finale of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra at Tennessee Tech University, set to begin at 3 p.m., Sunday, April 18, in Wattenbarger Auditorium.
The program features Prokofiev “3rd Concerto,” with Cliburn Competition finalist Di Wu as guest pianist, along with Shostakovich’s “5th Symphony.” It promises to be a big, bold, powerful performance that portrays the two composers at the height of their powers. For advance ticketing, call 931-525-2633, or visit the box office beginning at noon on the day of the concert. Admission is $28 for adults, $24 for senior citizens 65 and up, and $8 for students. The April concert is sponsored by Regions Bank and Herb and Betty Catlin and is funded in part under an agreement with the Tennessee Arts Commission. Both Prokofiev and Shostakovich had troubled relationships with the Soviet regime, which pushed its artists in a single direction: glorifying the power of the state while inspiring its workers to ever higher productivity in its march to achieve superpower status. The Shostakovich symphony was meant to redeem the composer’s standing with the Soviet government after it rejected some of his earlier work. Prokofiev believed he was giving the state precisely what it wanted: his best. But to Soviet music critics, Prokofiev’s music was suspect -- in part, at least, because they believed he’d been corrupted by his years abroad. “Prokofiev’s expatriation caused his political problems upon his return to the homeland; he wrote the ‘3rd Concerto’ in Brittany,” says BSO Music Director Dan Allcott. “His music is about meter and rhythmic pulse; he was striving for transparency of texture. He doesn’t give us a rich sound like Tchaikovsky; he gives us clarity, which is a very modern ideal. His style is frequently driven by rhythm combined with melodies. There’s an unknowing ferocity to his music; he didn’t know how ferocious he was. He could write gorgeous music, but he could also just be – he’s like a word I don’t often use in describing classical music, but he is, he’s ferocious.” The Prokofiev “3rd” is legendary for its demands on the soloist. Two years ago, just after Musical America magazine listed her among 2008’s up-and-coming young artists, Di Wu appeared with the BSO for a stunning performance of Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A Minor.” “Di Wu is going to be great at this,” says Allcott. “It’s a muscular piece, and she’s so facile – really without any technical limitations. I knew, from the minute she first played for us, that we had to have her back and that this concerto was exactly what she needed to perform here in Cookeville.” Wu’s solo at the April 18 performance will be her second during the BSO’s season finale weekend. She’ll also perform a private recital at the last Symphony Social of the season, beginning at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 17, at the home of Bob and Julia Lowe. All proceeds benefit the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. For reservations and information about the recital, call 525-2633. Other concert week activities include:
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