Chippewa Valley Symphony Closes 50th Anniversary Season with Mahler Symphony No. 2

In Thursday’s (5/1) WEAU 13 (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), Judy Clark reports, “More than 170 musicians will take to the stage for the conclusion of the 50th anniversary season for the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra. CVSO will expand its ranks to over 80 instrumentalists and approximately 90 singers to perform one of the grandest symphonic works ever composed, Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, nicknamed the ‘Resurrection’ Symphony. [Performers] include the Chippewa Valley Festival Choir, local ensemble Chorale NouvEAU, and solo vocalists Christine Amon and Emily Sternfeld-Dunn…. Prior to the concert, Memorial High School’s Chamber Orchestra will entertain patrons in the lobby, and following the concert, CVSO will host a champagne [party] … ‘Gustav Mahler was a successful opera conductor as well as a great composer,’ says CVSO Music Director and Conductor Nobuyoshi Yasuda, and ‘he created musical drama in his symphonies…. It is fascinating to explore his psychological journey in this symphony, which ends with the most spectacular climax … The symphony is a quest to conquer death.’ ‘The Chippewa Valley is fortunate that CVSO is programming works like Mahler 2; it’s not often that we get to hear works of this magnitude performed by musicians from within our community,’ remarks soloist Sternfeld-Dunn.”