Margaret Cornils Luke
The NIU Philharmonic, under the direction of Lucia Matos, will perform its final concert of the fall semester at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the Music Building.
The concert is free and open to the public, and the auditorium is accessible to all.
Performing “Polonaise” from “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (Unfinished), the NIU Philharmonic will be followed by NIU alumnus Brent Michael Davis, who will debut his original works “Fluting Around,” “Concerto for Flute” and “Orchestra.”
Alumna Margaret Cornils Luke is the flute soloist for the evening.
Borrowed from various American Indian traditions of courting flutes, “Fluting Around” is a modern concerto for flute and orchestra.
With a bit of humor, “Fluting Around” celebrates the American Indian courting flute traditions, especially in the third movement, and illustrates that a challenging flute concerto can be both exhilarating and fun for audiences of any culture. “Fluting Around” was funded in part by Cornils Luke in memory of her aunt, Gertrude Cornils, and by the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Lucia Matos
Matos has appeared with orchestras in the US, Brazil and Europe, including the Chicago Philharmonic, Illinois Philharmonic and National Arts Center Orchestra (Canada) among others. Since 2008, she has been the director of orchestra and opera at NIU, and the music director of the Illinois Valley Symphony since 2009.
A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, Matos has given premiere performances of numerous orchestral and chamber works.
She is also equally devoted to opera and her repertoire includes “La Traviata,” “Tosca,” “I Pagliacci,” “Samson et Dalilah,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Cosi fan tutte,” “Die Zauberflöte,” “L’Elisir d’Amore” and “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.”
For those unable to attend, the concert will also be made available as a live broadcast online.
For more information, call (815) 753-1551 or (815) 753-1546.
