NEWS RELEASE
Date: April 23, 2021 Contact: Lexi Locke
For Immediate Release Phone: 417.864.6683
Photos Available Upon Request Cell: 417.860.9690
Fax: 417.864.8967
lexi@springfieldmosymphony.org
Springfield Symphony concludes 86th season with ragtime favorites featuring pianist Gary Ellison
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Springfield Symphony (SSO) will wrap up its “Comfort Food” season with its pops concert Locally Grown. Performances will take place on Saturday, May 8th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. The program will feature favorites like The Entertainer, The Maple Leaf Rag, Frankie and Johnny, and more. With local guest artist Gary Ellison on piano, hometown comfort never sounded so good!
“It is hard for me to believe that this is the final concert of this season. This year was nothing like we had expected, and yet, in many ways it was a triumphant celebration of the Springfield Symphony,” said Music Director and Conductor Kyle Wiley Pickett. “In a year when so few orchestras in this country were performing, we continued to play concerts, emphatically creating beautiful art for our community. I could not be prouder to be the music director of this wonderful orchestra, and I am so grateful to our staff, board, members, musicians, Symphony Guild, and community for being committed to having live, professional orchestral music in our city.”
Alongside the Springfield Symphony, pianist Gary Ellison joins the Hammons Hall stage for the SSO’s final concert of home-grown ragtime favorites. “Gary Ellison is a remarkable Ragtime performer and storyteller. We are excited to be teaming up with Gary for performances of the fun, entertaining music!” exclaimed Pickett. “Locally grown music in Missouri means Ragtime. Though Ragtime was a short-lived precursor to Jazz, it has remained one of our country’s most beloved genres of music, and Ragtime truly is Missouri’s music!”
Single tickets are currently on sale at www.springfieldmosymphony.org/tickets and can be purchased until 12:00 PM on the day of the concert. Single tickets are $30 per ticket for the 2:00 PM performance and $25 per ticket with limited availability in the Hammons Hall Petite Balcony for the 7:30 PM performance. Livestream tickets start at $12 per household for the 7:30 PM performance.
Pickett is available for any interviews or questions. Please feel free to email him at kwpickett@gmail.com or call at (417) 837-9422. The Locally Grown concerts are sponsored by Reliable Superstore, Don Wessel Honda, Positronic, Central Bank of the Ozarks, Springfield News Talk 104.1, and 417 Magazine. For more information on Springfield Symphony health and safety guidelines, concerts and events, and more, visit www.springfieldmosymphony.org.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and an Equal Opportunity Employer. Additional funding for all Springfield Symphony Orchestra programming is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. For more information, visit www.springfieldmosymphony.org or www.facebook.com/springfieldsymphony.
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