Classical performance opens at WSU

The Weber State University Symphony Orchestra is back and will be having its first concert of the 2008-09 season. The concert will be held this Sunday in the Austad Auditorium of the Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts.

"The performance is featuring Dr. Victor Uzur, and this is not only a fantastic concerto for the cello and the orchestra, but he is so far beyond amazing," said Samuel Runolfson, a WSU music education major. "It's incredible to work with him, listen to him and learn from him. If nothing else, coming to hear that piece is a must."

Victor Uzur will be performing the Cello Concerto No. 1 in C by Franz Joseph Haydn. Uzur, born in Czechoslovakia, has been playing music since he was 8, and has been playing the cello since he was 12. He is a well-known concert artist and has played in concerts and recitals around the world. Uzur is also a cello professor at WSU for the music department.

"Everyone who is devoted to music has some students," Uzur said. "It provides an opportunity for tradition to be carried over and not to just be left with the player. I learned from my teachers, and they learned from their teachers, and that's very special to be continued."

Uzur will be playing a cello that was made more than 300 years ago, and will perform several original cadenzas, which he wrote. A cadenza is a special part of the piece near the end a movement designated as a solo for a musician to improvise and show some material that is very difficult.

"Things that they can hear at a classical concert is exciting and is performed with excitement and skill," Uzur said, "so you realize that it's not just this boring classical music."

The concert will be performing a myriad of classical pieces, and will be performed with string instruments only.

"It sounds really special when you hear the very rich sound of string with the beautiful acoustics that the Austad Auditorium has," Uzur said, "and it sounds a little different than when it has wind as well."

Angie Petty, a music education major at WSU, said she thinks Uzur is a beautiful cello player.

"I heard him play at the Bonneville Chamber Festival where we sang in a concert with him," Petty said.

Opening the concert will be the Symphony No. 3 in B-flat conducted by Runolfson. Runolfson received a scholarship to WSU for his cello playing. He has been playing since the 5th grade when he started playing the violin. He has since moved on to the cello and is a senior teacher in the WSU String Project.

"It is a fantastic learning experience," Runolfson said.

The WSU String Project teaches 3rd, 4th and 5th graders how to play string instruments. It is a supplemental program that allows the elementary students to learn to play those instruments, and it gives the student teachers an opportunity to teach in a controlled environment.

The show will begin at 7:30 on Sunday, Oct. 5. Tickets for adults are $4.50 and $3.50 for students, seniors and those with military ID The public and children eight and over are welcome to attend. Tickets are available in advance at Dee Events Center Tickets, 1-800-WSU-TIKS.