Clinton Symphony Orchestra to begin 71st season in September

CLINTON, Iowa – The Clinton Symphony Orchestra will begin its 71st annual concert season with music by master composers Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Mozart, as well as pieces by lesser known composers.

“We shouldn’t assume that they were the only ones composing great music during those times,” said Brian Dollinger, music director. “Each of them had contemporaries who were finding their own successes at the same time.”

The concert season opens Sept. 21, featuring Beethoven’s First Symphony, along with an opera overture from the same decade by French composer Etienne Nicolas Mehul and a Concerto Grosso for strings and piano by Ernest Bloch. Because of construction at Clinton High School, the concert will be performed at Clinton’s Zion Lutheran Church.

On Nov. 2, the orchestra will play in the Centennial Auditorium at Sterling High School. For several seasons, Community State Bank has sponsored a bus from Clinton through Fulton and Morrison to this concert. Information and reservations for the bus can be made by calling 563-503-4886. The concert program will include Beethoven’s Second Symphony, with an overture by Mendelssohn, and another by Basque composer Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga.

The annual Holiday Concert by the symphony also will be at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton. It will include music associated with the season and a holiday singalong. The date is Dec. 14.

The symphony’s traditional Music of Friendships program of music for small ensembles also will be at Zion Lutheran Church on Jan. 12, 2025.

The Family Concert on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 23, 2025, will be at the Morrison High School auditorium and will feature Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which is probably his best-known symphony. The program also will include an overture by Anton Bruckner and a solo performance with the orchestra by an area high school musician chosen from the annual Young Artist Auditions.

With the expectation of the completion of the new Durgin Performing Arts Center at Clinton High School, plans have been made for the orchestra and Clinton’s RiverChor to perform Mozart’s final work, his Requiem, during this concert season.

Fundraising and season ticket sales are underway at www.clintonsymphony.org or by mailing Box 116, Clinton, IA 52732.