The Firelands Symphony Orchestra their first all strings concert on Saturday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Sawmill Creek Convention Center. (Photo by Doug Klein/Firelands Photography)

HURON, OH – The Firelands Symphony Orchestra (FSO) continues its 2022-23 concert season with the strings concert Across the Seasons on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the newly renovated Sawmill Creek Convention Center. The concert will feature Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” with four young guest violinists from local schools.

This concert is made possible with generous funding from: Randolph J. & Estelle M. Dorn Foundation, Mylander Foundation, Sidney Frohman Foundation, Civista Wealth Management, Firelands Regional Medical Center, and the Ohio Arts Council.

Carl Topilow, music director and conductor, presents the FSO’s first all strings concert, featuring over 30 musicians on violin, viola, cello, bass and piano. The concert opens with Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” one of his most notable works. The piece is comprised of four violin concertos representing each of the four seasons. In them Vivaldi, uses music to represent flowing creeks, singing birds, a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties, frozen landscapes and warm winter fires.

The concert season theme this year is “Looking to the Future,” and this concert will highlight four young violinists performing a solo from each concerto: Freya Klaas (Ottawa Hills High School) performing Spring; Yuki Nakamura (Lenawee Christian School) performing Summer; Elizabeth Huang (Shaker Heights High School) performing Autumn; and Anthony Yang (Cleveland Institute of Music Pre-College) performing Winter.

Music director and conductor Carl Topilow presents Across the Seasons, featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. (Photo by Doug Klein/Firelands Photography)

The evening of music will continue with other masterpieces for string orchestras. One easily recognized piece will be Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” widely performed and highly regarded as a staple of Baroque music. Biber’s “Battalia à 10,” depicting troops in battle, uses many non-traditional musical techniques, including striking the bow on the instrument and woven paper through strings. “St. Paul’s Suite” by English composer Gustav Holst (best known for his orchestral suite “The Planets”) was named after the all-girls school he composed the piece for and is very popular amongst string orchestras.

“This will be a great opportunity for our audiences to experience an all strings performance as part of our season, and we are so excited to feature some young up-and-coming talent as a showcase to the future of musicianship,” said Board President Nike Mendenahll.

General admission tickets for this concert are available for $25 at firelandssymphony.com/tickets or by calling the FSO office at 419-621-4800 (Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Student tickets for youth are complementary, as well as for college students with a valid student I.D. at the time of purchase. For these special ticket offers, please call the FSO office or claim at the door on the day of the event.

Sawmill Creek Resort is located at 400 Sawmill Creek Drive West in Huron. When entering the site, attendees should follow signage for the conference center parking and entrance. Concessions are available and are cashless.