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Missouri Philharmonic to play Shostakovich Symphony No. 5

Composer Dmitri Shostakovich in 1950.
Deutsche Fotothek
Composer Dmitri Shostakovich in 1950.

The Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra is a civic orchestra with professional, amateur and student musicians serving the community with free classical music concerts.

Music Director Amy Andreassen joined us on KSMU's "Arts News" to talk about the orchestra's upcoming presentation, "Extremes," on Thursday March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at The Barley House at Moon Town Crossing, 3060 North Kentwood Avenue.

The concert will feature a single work, the Symphony No. 5 of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. It runs about 50 minutes. Andreassen says, "We try to hold our performances to an hour or less."

As for the concert's title "Extremes," she says she chose it "because Shostakovich, in this piece, was all about extremes: extremely slow, extremely fast, extremely high, extremely low. The members of our orchestra are looking so forward to playing this piece. It's a monumental work."

And it's one of the most immediately approachable, attractive works among Shostakovich's 15 symphonies.

"He's all about the 'hidden messages' in his music. You're always wondering about (this piece): Is it happy? Is it not? It's an amazing work, and one that should be played more often," according to Amy Andreassen.

You can arrive early at 6:30 p.m. for a pre-concert cocktail and social hour. Andreassen recommends early arrival anyway, as the venue's seating capacity is limited, though they keep putting out more and more chairs for each Missouri Philharmonic performance.

For more information, visit missouriphilharmonic.org or call 417-849-5930.

Randy Stewart joined the full-time KSMU staff in June 1978 after working part-time as a student announcer/producer for two years. His job evolved from Music Director in the early days to encompassing production of a wide range of arts-related programming and features for KSMU, including the online and Friday morning Arts News. Stewart assisted volunteer producers John Darkhorse (Route 66 Blues Express), Lee Worman (The Gold Ring), and Emily Higgins (The Mulberry Tree) with the production of their programs. He was the de facto "Voice of KSMU" due to the many hours per day he was heard doing local station breaks. Stewart’s record of service on behalf of the Springfield arts community earned him the Springfield Regional Arts Council's Ozzie Award in 2006.<br/><br/>Stewart passed away on July 1, 2024.