Don't Miss This Year's Spring Pops!

Spring Pops: The Music of Billy Joel and More Saturday, June 4; 7:30 pm Adler Theatre On Sale Now Enter Code: PIANO for ticket offer!

coming soon

John Prine with special guest Iris DeMent Saturday, June 18; 8:00 pm Adler Theatre On Sale Now

Ernie Haase & Signature Sound Friday, July 29; 7:30 pm Adler Theatre On Sale Now For more information, vist adlertheatre.com

Davenport, IA - April 18, 2011 - On the heals of our exciting residency with violinist Midori and our best selling concert in over a decade, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce that the Board of Trustees has elected to renew the contract for Music Director Mark Russell Smith. Since Maestro Smith's arrival in 2008, the QCSO has witnessed season ticket sales climbing more than 25%.  Mark Russell Smith plays a critical role as the artistic leader of our organization and is key to maintaining this positive momentum. Maestro Smith has expressed gratitude for the privilege of serving as the orchestra's Music Director through the 100th Anniversary season, which will occur in 2014-15.

Bio:
Whether conducting contemporary masterpieces or bringing fresh insights to the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven or Brahms, Mark Russell Smith demonstrates consummate musicianship and enthusiastic commitment to the art of music-making: qualities that have endeared him to audiences and musicians alike.  In June of 2007, Smith was appointed Director of New Music Projects of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Minnesota, a combined post that enabled him to bring his commitment for excellence and passion for education to new audiences.  In March of 2008, he was named Music Director and Conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, effective September, 2008. As Music Director of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, a position he held from 1999 to 2009, Smith was praised for his innovative and approachable programming and is widely credited with fostering the orchestras unprecedented artistic growth.

As a guest conductor, Smith enjoys a burgeoning international reputation that has already brought him engagements and re-engagements with prestigious American orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. With the Minnesota Orchestra, he made his critically-acclaimed Sommerfest debut in 2006 and made his subscription series debut in March of 2009.   In November 2007, he returned to his alma mater to lead the Symphony Orchestra of The Curtis Institute of Music in Verizon Hall, and will lead the orchestra on tour in China and Korea in the fall of 2011. Smith's debut at the Nomus Music Music Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia was met with critical and audience acclaim and led to immediate reengagement. Other recent and upcoming appearances include the Minnesota Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony, Brazils Orquestra Sinfoniea da USP, the Hartford Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the Phoenix Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Eugene Symphony, the Curtis Opera Theatre, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Eastern Music Festival, the Tulsa Philharmonic, Orchestra London (Ontario), and the European Center for Opera and Vocal Art in Ghent, Belgium.

A champion of the music of our time, Smith led the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's Engine 408 series, working closely with living composers and added his unique perspective to enhance that orchestra's great tradition of fostering new works. He has collaborated with YoYo Ma and members of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota in Hun Qiao (Bridge of Souls), a concert of remembrance and reconciliation featuring world premieres by Korean, Japanese, Chinese and American composers. A firm believer in the use of technical innovation to reach world-wide audiences, he debuted in 2002 with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducting the final round of the first Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, where he led six concerto performances that were streamed live over the Internet. He has led the Minnesota Orchestra in the competition's final round since 2004 and returns each summer.

Smith grew up in a musical family in Phoenix, Arizona where he began the serious study of conducting while still in his teens. He is a graduate in cello performance of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Claus Adam, and of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied conducting with Max Rudolf and Otto-Werner Mueller. While at Curtis, Smith was first prize winner in the National Repertory Orchestra Conductors Competition, and upon graduation, was named Assistant Conductor of the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Singers. From 1989 to 1994, Smith served as Associate Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and from 1992 through 1999 served as Music Director of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. His dynamic personality, creative programming, and focus on outreach helped revitalize the Springfield (MA) Symphony, where he served as Music Director from 1995 through 2000.

Smith resides in Minneapolis, where his wife, Ellen Dinwiddie Smith, is a horn player with the Minnesota Orchestra. They have two sons, Alexander and Noah.

Put Your Snow Day to Good Use!

Put your snow day to good use honing your trivia game skills in preparation for trivia fun the night before "the Big Game."  The Arc of Rock Island County announces its continued partnership with St. Anne's Parish for the Third Annual Trivia Night on Saturday, February 5, benefiting St. Anne's Parish and The Arc of Rock Island County.  $10 per player, payable at the door.  Features teams of three minimum, up to a maximum of eight.  Participants are welcome to bring snacks (only) and drinks will be available for purchase.  There will also be 50/50 Drawings and Theme Basket raffles.  Reservations recommended as seating is limited.   Register or volunteer by calling 309-786-6474.  The Arc gratefully acknowledges Southeast National Bank, KONE Employees Credit Union, and our auction basket donors for sponsoring this family-fun event.

 

Saturday, February 5, 2011 

5:30 PM - doors open

6:30 PM - trivia game begins

 

Location:

St. Anne's Parish

Cleary Hall

602-17th Avenue

East Moline, IL

 

Event Contact Info:

Jan Haugen

309-755-4876 or 309-781-4508

Maureen Dickinson

309-786-6474 or dickinsonm@arcric.org

 

Founded in 1952, The Arc is committed to living and working

in partnership with the community to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

The Quad City Symphony Orchstra is proud to announce the addition of three new principal musicians to its permanent roster. Benjemin Coelho has been named Principal Bassoon, Andrew Parker has been named Principal Oboe, and Marc Zyla has been named Principal Horn.

Coehlo is professor of bassoon at the University of Iowa and has appeared as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, teacher, and clinician throughout the US and in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Portugal, France, Romania, Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic. He has performed with the Gramado Woodwind Quintet, the Alaria Chamber Ensemble, and the Contemporary Music Group of Minas Gerais and is a founding member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet.

Parker has been recently appointed Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Iowa. After receiving his Bachelor's degree at the Eastman School of Music and Master's degree at Yale University, he finished doctoral studies at the University of Michigan where he was the Graduate Student Instructor. In his time at the University of Michigan, Andrew was a finalist in the concerto competition and was asked to represent the university by performing at the illustrious Conservatory Project, a recital series at the Kennedy Center. He also had the opportunity to collaborate with many of the faculty including Nancy Ambrose King, Jeffrey Lyman, Donald Sinta, and Amy Porter among others.

Zyla is a member of the Univeristy of Illinois Brass Studio and a doctoral teaching assistant in horn. Marc was the horn soloist with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra on the world premier of Kaoru Wada's Toone for Horn and Wind Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Marc has performed with Las Cornistas Horn Ensemble, the Illinois Brass Quintet, the Pittsburgh Brass Project, and the Looking Glass Wind Quintet at the Banff Chamber Music Festival.