Mezzo-Soprano Kate Tombaugh and IWU Collegiate Choir join the ISO stage for a spring inspired performance
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Captivating Mezzo-Soprano Kate Tombaugh joins the Illinois Symphony Chamber Orchestra (ISCO) and the Illinois Wesleyan University Collegiate Choir for John Corigliano’s Fern Hill, based on Dylan Thomas’s poem about his summer on a farm. Miss Tombaugh will also perform two Bach arias. The ISCO anticipates the arrival of spring, opening the concert with Rameau’s cheeky La Poule and concluding with Haydn’s high-spirited and triumphant Symphony No. 88.
Order your tickets today for an evening of inspiring LIVE music!
General admission is $21. Student tickets available for $5 (Age 11 & under) and $10 (age 12-24) with valid Student ID. Senior and group discounts are also available. Purchase tickets in Bloomington through the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts at (309) 434-2777 or in Springfield through the UIS Performing Arts Center at (217) 206-6160. Tickets may be purchased online or by phone. Senior, group, or student-priced tickets are not available online.
Flora & Fauna is sponsored by season sponsor The Landmark Automotive Group and Debra & Daniel Brownstone M.D., concert sponsor Circle of Springfield Physicians, & guest artist sponsors F. Lucille Foster and Carolyn & Duane Yockey.
Listen LIVE to the Illinois Symphony Chamber Orchestra on Friday, February 18, 2022, at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School Theater in Springfield, IL, and Saturday, February 19, 2022, at 7:30 PM at Second Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, IL. Join Music Director Ken Lam, feature guest artists, and musicians from the Illinois Symphony Chamber Orchestra for our post-concert discussion, Coda Conversations.
Mezzo-soprano Kate Tombaugh has been praised as “utterly convincing dramatically, and musically superlative” (Seen and Heard International). She has performed professionally throughout the U.S. in works that range the gamut of classical and musical theater repertoire. Recently, Kate won first place in the 10th annual Mildred C. Miller International Vocal Competition, hosted by Pittsburgh Festival Opera. Held virtually last fall and featuring an all-mezzo edition, she was awarded the top $3,000 prize.
She holds a master’s degree in voice from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and dual undergraduate degrees in English literature and vocal performance from Illinois Wesleyan University. Kate trained as a young artist in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist program, as a Gerdine Artist with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and as a Resident Artist with Utah Opera. Additionally, she was a Stern Fellow with the LA-based Songfest and performed in the Opera Studio at AIMS in Graz, Austria.
Her career in opera was initiated when she placed third in the Chicago Regional MONC Auditions, hosted by NYC’s Metropolitan Opera. Since then, other career highlights have included performing as a soloist at Carnegie Hall upon winning the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition, winning the Harold Haugh Light Opera Vocal Competition, placing second in the Nicholas Z. Loren Vocal Competition, hosted by the Holland Chorale, and being awarded the “Grace Keagy Award” by NYC-based Kurt Weill Foundation in their annual Lotte Lenya Foundation.
Illinois Wesleyan University Collegiate Choir has established a long history of excellence through on-campus performances, annual tours, and recordings. The Collegiate Choir is composed of student musicians representing the School of Music and other areas of the university. Students in the Collegiate Choir are dedicated to performing the finest sacred and secular choral music spanning six centuries and various languages. Students in the choir are selected by audition and maintain a rigorous rehearsal schedule in preparation for their annual spring concert tour and other engagements throughout the year. The choir has presented concerts in Italy, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Germany, France, and South Africa. The choir has received acclaim for the “breath-taking beauty and skill of the voices, the superb repertoire, and the awesome musicality.”
Under the leadership of Music Director Ken Lam, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra (ISO) and Chamber Orchestra (ISCO) is central Illinois’ largest professional Orchestra serving over 35,000 patrons in the communities Bloomington-Normal, Springfield, and the surrounding region with a budget of approximately $1.3 million. The ISO celebrates its 29th season of exciting performances with symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, and Concerts for Kids series in each community.
In addition to concert performances, the Orchestra’s music education and outreach programs serve elementary schools through the music Matters education program and reach middle schools, high schools, universities, community organizations, and senior centers through guest artist residencies and ensemble performances. The ISO also has an active Around the Town Chamber Music Series and Sunday at Six Virtual Recital Series.
The ISO acquired the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony (SVYS) organization, which is now the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras, in July 2020. These programs include the Starter and Junior Strings program, Preparatory Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, and Symphony Orchestra providing musical opportunities to the entire community.
The ISO, founded in 1993, consolidates two well-established organizations: the Springfield Symphony and the Bloomington- Normal Symphony. The ISO has won numerous awards, including the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ awards for Meritorious Service in Outstanding Programming, Community Service, and Community Event of the Year, all in recognition of its service and commitment to the citizens of Illinois.
The ISO has performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall during the tenure of Conductor Laureate Kenneth Kiesler. It has made appearances at the Ravinia Festival, Millennium Park in Chicago, and the Illinois State Fair.
Additional information about the Illinois Symphony Orchestra is available at www.ilsymphony.org. The ISO is funded, in part, by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
