Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra presents ‘No Place Like Home’
By Don Snider February 8, 2012 2:58PM
Markand Thakar, who is a music director candidate for the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, will serve as guest conductor of the "No Place Like Home" concerts on Feb. 11-12.
‘NO PLACE
LIKE HOME’
◆ 8 p.m. Feb. 11 at Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center, 19900 S. Harlem Ave., Frankfort; 3 p.m. Feb. 12 at Trinity Christian College’s Ozinga Chapel, 6600 W. College Drive, Palos Heights
◆ Tickets, $30-$50, or $15 for students or attendees younger than age 18
◆ (708) 481-7774; ipomusic.org
◆ A free preconcert event with guest conductor Markand Thaker will take place at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at Lincoln-Way North and at 3 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Ozinga Chapel.
Article Extras
Related Stories
Updated: March 11, 2012 8:11AM
Reputation and location. Those have proven to be the strengths of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in its search for a new director.
The IPO will perform its sixth concert under a guest conductor on Feb. 11-12 as Markand Thakar takes the baton for a diverse program titled “No Place Like Home.,”
Featuring works by great composers reflecting their heritage, the concerts will be at the Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center in Frankfort on Feb. 11 and at Trinity Christian College’s Ozinga Chapel in Palos Heights on
Feb. 12.
“I saw the opening (for a conductor) last year and I knew it was extremely attractive,” Thakar said from his Baltimore home.
“What I particularly found attractive was the reputation of its audience being experienced in the arts, and the orchestra’s location in the Chicago area where there is a pool of many great musicians to draw from.”
Thakar himself comes with a reputation for excellence.
His most recent titles include music director of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
He has been cited in publications such as Symphony Magazine for his “creative programming and rising artistic standards that fill the house.”
Thakar also is a former assistant conductor for the New York Philharmonic in the city where he grew up.
He has conducted concerts across the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe, and he has appeared in concert with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman, two superstars of their instruments.
The soloist for Thakar’s IPO concert, however, will be a talented young pianist recommended by Mario Carlasare, the orchestra’s director of marketing and outreach.
Gregory Martin will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s powerful “Piano Concerto No. 2.”
Martin and Carlasare were classmates and friends at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
Martin is now on the staffs of the University of Indianapolis and DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.
“While I am a teacher,” Martin said, “I like to perform whenever possible. During the summer I often go to Europe to perform.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about the IPO, and I’m excited about the challenge of performing a Rachmaninoff piece.”
Thakar ranks Rachmaninoff “the greatest pianist (because of ) his sheer virtuosity and his compelling melodies.”
Rachmaninoff performed in the modern era, so there are films of his concerts. He is noted for his size (6 feet 6 inches tall) and his large hands.
“I think he absolutely was one of the greatest,” Martin said. “But I’m not (built) like him, and I won’t try to mimic him, but use his music as a blueprint.”
Martin has been noted by the international Grieg Society for his “fire and imagination.”
Thakar’s IPO concerts will open with Aaron Copland’s short “Fanfare for the Common Man” and close with Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88.”
“Copland’s piece is like a splash of refreshing water,” Thakar said. “It’s like saying, ‘Wake up and smell the coffee. Look what we’ve got in store.’ ”
The Dvorak’s piece is an intense and lively symphony, inspired by folk music of the composer’s beloved Bohemia.
Thakar and Martin have one thing in common with Copland, Rachmaninoff and Dvorak. The conductor’s and pianist’s love for classical music was developed at a very early age.
“We can be extremely moved by music as I was at a young age,” Thakar said.
Martin, who grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., did not come from a musical family.
“But at age 5 I wanted to sign up for a piano lessons, even though we didn’t have a piano,” he said. “So my parents went out and bought a cheap upright.”
Something they also have in common with several of the other candidates for the IPO directorship is Thakar and Martin are married to talented professional musicians with whom they often perform.
Thakar’s wife, Victoria Chiang, is a violist. Martin’s wife, Christine, is a clarinetist.
Don Snider is a local free-lance writer.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment