(October 30, 2014)

Centenary's Youth Orchestra presents inaugural concert

SHREVEPORT, LA — Hurley School of Music's Centenary Youth Orchestra will present its inaugural concert Sunday, November 16, at 3 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium under the direction of associate professor of music Dr. Todd Gabriel.

Shreveport native Marcus Rose from The Juilliard School in New York City will be featured as a soloist. Symphonic music from four different style periods will be represented by the compositions of Telemann, C.Ph.E. Bach, Bartok, and the Rolla viola concerto.

"The program is wonderfully diverse with the styles of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century represented," said Gabriel. "The orchestra sounds great. Our soloist, Marcus Rose is a super talented violist that will be inspiring to the group and the audience."

Rose is an aspiring violist born in Inglewood, California, and raised in Shreveport. He began studying with Borys Smolaga, principal violist with the Shreveport Symphony, at the age of 13. In November 2010, Rose collaborated with program host Christopher O'Reilly on a taping of NPR's From the Top as a $10,000 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award recipient. Rose is a full tuition scholarship student of Heidi Castleman and Steven Tenenbom at The Juilliard School.

Gabriel is also a graduate of The Juilliard School and a 40-year veteran orchestral violist having been a tenured member of the Alabama, Phoenix, and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. He has worked with youth orchestras in Alabama and Arizona and is the Hurley School of Music Orchestra Director at Centenary.

The Centenary Youth Orchestra is comprised of more than 40 young instrumentalists from Shreveport, Bossier City, and Haughton. Auditioning began in November and concluded this summer. Auditions will resume for the spring concert in January 2015. Tuition to participate in the orchestra is $150 a semester.

The spring concert is scheduled for Sunday, March 29, 2015, and will feature another local success, cellist John-Henry Crawford from the Curtis Institute. Both programs are free and open to the public.

For more information contact Gabriel at tgabriel@centenary.edu or 318.869.5403.