EVERETT — If you’re interested in getting tickets for the Everett Philharmonic Orchestra’s all-Mozart concert on Feb. 11, start planning now.
Last year’s concert was filled to capacity — standing room only. “If they can, come early,” said Paul-Elliott Cobbs, the orchestra’s music director.
The concert’s theme, “That Magnificent Mozart!” will be performed by a chamber-sized group at the First Presbyterian Church of Everett.
“The acoustics are fantastic,” Cobbs said. And the setting allows the audience to be seated much closer to the musicians than when the orchestra performs at the Everett Civic Auditorium.
“Mozart is probably the most popular composer on the planet,” Cobbs said. “From little children to to older seniors, Mozart appeals to everyone. There’s no composer who’s more popular.”
Cobbs plans to talk to the audience about Mozart, who composed more than 600 pieces in his 36 years of life.
The concert begins with the Overture to La Clemenza di Tito, an opera about the Roman Emperor Tito.
The concert’s second selection is the Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major. Mozart was commissioned to compose the piece when he was 18 years old.
It will be performed by Steven Morgan, whose musical career began when his mother refused to sign him up for pee-wee football. She suggested he take up the recorder instead.
Morgan began playing clarinet in middle school. His future would be changed by a request by a high school band director to try the bassoon. With its double reeds, the bassoon is sometimes called the most difficult of all Western instruments.
Morgan earned degrees from the University of Redlands and University of California, Los Angeles in music performance. He studied for six months at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
He is principal bassoon with the Everett Philharmonic, the Federal Way Symphony and the Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra.
Morgan “is one of the best bassoonists in the Northwest,” Cobbs said. “We’re lucky to have him play with our orchestra.”
The all-Mozart performance ends with The Symphony No. 31 in D major also known as the Paris Symphony — Mozart’s first to include the use of clarinets.
Mozart composed the piece while auditioning for jobs in Paris, Cobbs said.
The after-concert reception allows audience members to talk with the musicians and soloists. “I think it’s important for people to have somewhere to go where they can just sit, not think about politics, talk to musicians and have a fun time,” Cobbs said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
If you go
The Everett philharmonic Orchestra’s Feb. 11 concert, “That Magnificent Mozart,” is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Everett, 2936 Rockefeller Ave. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and military, and $10 for youth and students. Visit www.everettphil.org or call 206-270-9729 for more information.
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