In Sunday’s (1/31) Shreveport Times (Louisiana), John Andrew Prime reports on the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra’s “return to the local arts horizon” with a well-attended concert Saturday led by Music Director Michael Butterman. “General manager Leah Escude estimated the crowd would be close to the full house of about 1,600, a major accomplishment for the orchestra that for more than a year has been silent due to ongoing negotiations between its players and management. … The player-management talks go on, but an agreement was reached to put on three events—the ‘Tchaikovsky Spectacular’ on Saturday, the ‘Cirque de la Symphonie’ on March 5 at Riverview, and ‘A Keyboard Extravaganza’ on May 15 at First Baptist Church of Shreveport. Some in the crowd were just thankful to have a city symphony to cheer on, while others were there for specific items on the program. Leonard Kacenjar, music director and conductor of the Marshall (Texas) Symphony Orchestra and a long-time figure in the Shreveport music scene, was looking forward to the evening’s second number, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D, opus 35, with guest soloist Jennifer Frautschi. ‘It’s a long time in the coming,’ said Kacenjar. ‘It’s amazing, and what a great crowd too.’ ”
Posted February 2, 2010
