Master Series I
Mark Rodgers, cello
Date: October 17, 2011
Location: Southminster United Church
Doors open at 7:30 pm, Concert 8:00 pm
Join the LSO in their opening concert of the season with memorable music from Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire and The Half Blood Prince. The LSO’s own Mark Rodgers joins us for the Mozart-inspired Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations playing tribute to the elegant Classical style. Franck’s only symphony, completed in 1888 just two years before his death, demonstrates the full and rich sounds of a symphonic orchestra taking the listener on an emotional journey – from melancholy to joy.
Selections
Doyle, Cocker & Hooper Selections from Harry Potter
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme
César Franck Symphony in D Minor
Mark Rodgers was born in Winnipeg into a musical family, where he first studied piano with his mother. He soon switched to cello and studied with James Hunter in Victoria, British Columbia, and later at Brandon University with Malcolm Tait while completing a Bachelor of Music. A Master’s degree from the University of Western Ontario followed, where he studied with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. During these formative years, Mark occasionally performed with the Winnipeg Symphony and Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra, CBC Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon and London (Ontario) orchestras. In 1981 he was principal cellist with the National Youth Orchestra on their tour of Canada. After graduate studies he had position as cellist with Symphony Nova Scotia where he played from 1985 to 1989. He then studied and taught in Victoria, British Columbia for a number of years, before accepting the position of principal cellist of the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra in 1994. Mark has taught cello for over twenty-five years at various institutions including the University of Western Ontario, Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. He is interested in the Suzuki method and has taken a number of this organization’s teacher training courses, which he uses in his current teaching position with the University of Lethbridge Conservatory of Music.