Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Presents WIND MELODIES BY COLEMAN AND MOZART

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra will continue its popular IPO Reimagined virtual concert series next month with the debut of Wind Melodies by Coleman and Mozart, featuring IPO's wind musicians performing Grammy nominated flutist and composer Valerie Coleman's Red Clay & Mississippi Delta (2009) followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Gran Partita (1781). The 45-minute program runs 21 days only, January 23 - February 12, 2021, and $15 tickets are now available for purchase at ipomusic.org.

Valerie Coleman's Red Clay and Mississippi Delta references Coleman's family's experience living in the region of Mississippi often considered "the most Southern place on earth." The wind quartet is instilled with personality, meant to capture the listener's attention as they wail with 'bluesy' riffs.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, IPO has reimagined its season, curating concerts filmed in their breathtaking venue, Trinity Christian College's Ozinga Chapel in Palos Heights. Each concert was carefully curated to feature a different section of the orchestra, so that IPO could remain within COVID-19 restrictions. According to IPO's Artistic Director Stilian Kirov, choosing lively compositions for the woodwind section was a natural choice to celebrate the start of 2021, following IPO's October season-opening concert that featured the string section and their December holiday concert that highlighted the brass and percussion sections.

"Mozart's Gran Partita immediately came to mind when thinking about a woodwinds-focused work as it is one of the most beautiful compositions with its intimacy, brilliance and structure," said Kirov. "We are thrilled to juxtapose Mozart's classical wind composition alongside award-winning flutist and composer Valerie Coleman's Red Clay and Mississippi Delta. Ms. Coleman's modern merging of classical technique with bluesy sounds of the south tells an interesting, musical story that we all need to hear."

About Valerie Coleman

Valerie Coleman is among the world's most played composers living today. With works that range from flute sonatas that recount the stories of trafficked humans during Middle Passage and orchestral and chamber works based on nomadic Roma tribes, to scherzos about moonshine in the Mississippi Delta region and motifs based from Morse Code, her body of works have been highly regarded as a deeply relevant contribution to modern music.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Coleman began her music studies at the age of eleven and by the age of fourteen, had written three symphonies and won several local and state performance competitions. She is the founder, creator, and former flutist of the Grammy® nominated Imani Winds, one of the world's premier chamber music ensembles, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Performance, Chamber Music, and Entrepreneurship at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. a??

More information about Coleman can be found at vcolemanmusic.com.

About Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra

Named 2020 Professional Orchestra of the Year by Illinois Council of Orchestras, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra is celebrating its 43rd Season in 2020-2021. From its community orchestra roots in Park Forest, the 69-member orchestra has grown into a critically acclaimed professional orchestra, with increasing attendance and incredible regional support. Under the leadership of Music Director Stilian Kirov and Executive Director Christina Salerno, the mission of IPO is to provide concerts of compelling professional symphonic music, support music education, and expand audience awareness of musical excellence for the diverse communities of the greater Chicago region.

Campaign for the Future

In November 2020, IPO announced the public phase of its $5.1 million Campaign for the Future. The Campaign is supported in large part by The Davee Foundation, which donated $3 million to IPO in March 2018, creating IPO's first-ever endowment. Building on this transformational investment, IPO's Executive Director Christina Salerno and Board of Directors sought to use the endowment as a launching pad to increase the overall financial stability of IPO while cementing Artistic Director Stilian Kirov's vision for the orchestra's artistic relevance and importance in Chicago's Southland region.

Since taking the helm in 2017, Salerno and Kirov have catapulted the organization forward, drawing new, younger and more diverse audiences, fostering an environment where IPO is seen as an integral partner of the south and southwest Chicago suburbs. The completion of the Campaign for the Future will allow IPO to invest in the organization's regional impact through expansion and innovation, cement multi-tiered educational partnerships, and become an orchestra of the community by expanding its equity, diversity and inclusion programs and initiatives. More information about Campaign for the Future can be found at ipomusic.org/campaign-for-the-future.

For more information, visit ipomusic.org.

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