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January 17, 2010 - Fourth Concert of Season, at LSU - Music for the Young at Heart

Dimtri Mitropoulos
Brett Dietz
Kelly Smith Toney
James Ryon

Dimitri Mitropoulos, Brett Dietz, Kelly Smith Toney, James Ryon

The Louisiana Sinfonietta will present a series of concerts throughout the first part of 2010 in honor of the Anniversary of the death of the great Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. Mitropoulos was the music director of the New York Philharmonic and the Minneapolis Symphony as well as a principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera.

The Louisiana Sinfonietta under the direction of Dinos Constantinides will present the fourth concert of the year at the LSU School of Music, on Sunday January 17th, 2010, at 2 p.m.

Violinists Stefka Ilieva and Paris Parascoudis, members of the Sinfonietta, will perform the J.S. Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. LSU professor of oboe James Ryon will present the G.F. Handel Concerto for Oboe, No. 3 in G minor. Sinfonietta concertmaster Kelly Smith Toney will play the “Meditation” from Thaïs by J. Massenet. Louisiana Sinfonietta President Mikel LeDee will present his Sinfonietta 2009 Commission Resonator for Harp and Strings. LSU percussion professor Brett Dietz will premiere his work Available Spaces. The musical story Magic Pot will be narrated by Judy Constantinides.

Single tickets $15 for adults and $12 for students/seniors will be available at the door.

For more information call 225-578-4010 (days) or 225-766-3487 (evenings).
Also on the web: www.LouisianaSinfonietta.org

Winner of 2009 Constantinides Award: Amy Porter

Amy Porter

Amy Porter

The first Annual Contantinides Award Competition Finals were held on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 05, 2009. The 1st Place Winner is Amy Porter who received an Award of $500 and will appear in the May 2nd concert with the Louisiana Sinfonietta with conductor Dinos Constantinides. Jin Hin Yap was the 2nd Place Winner who received a $200 Award. Finalists Susan Ruggiero and Kristi Corie each earned an Honorable Mention. The judging panel consisted of Shawn Roy and Margaret Daniels, who are on the Voice Faculty of the University of Louisiana Lafayette and Joy Ratliff, from the Voice Faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. The competition was open to Louisiana residents or students age 18-35. From the preliminary round of CD submissions, four finalists were selected and invited to perform in the final round of competition.

Amy Porter, a South Louisiana native who grew up mostly in Texas, is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Voice at LSU, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in 1998. Ms. Porter received her Master’s Degree and a Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music in New York City, where she studied with Ruth Falcon. After completing her graduate work at Mannes, she stayed in New York and continued her vocal studies with Leyna Gabriele. She currently studies voice with Dr. Lori Bade at LSU. As an undergraduate, Ms. Porter performed several roles with LSU Opera, including Alice (Falstaff), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), and Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), and she appeared as Marguerite (Faust), Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore), Violetta (La Traviata), and Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) with Mannes Opera. An ardent performer of early music, Ms. Porter sang the role of Victory in the New York City premiere of Hildegard von Bingen’s medieval morality play Ordo Virtutum and has performed oratorio, chamber concerts and recitals throughout the New York and New Jersey area. She will perform next as Konstanze (Die Enführung aus dem Serial) in LSU Opera’s upcoming presentation of L’Opera Lagniappe: “Wein, Wurst, und Wagner” on January 22-24 in the newly restored Shaver Theatre.