Southeastern Symphony Orchestra to present ‘An Evening in Vienna’
Monday, November 20, 2017 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
AN EVENING IN VIENNA - Victor Correa-Cruz will make his conducting debut at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Symphony Orchestra concert, “An Evening in Vienna,” on Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m., in Pottle Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.
HAMMOND – “An Evening in Vienna,” a concert by the Southeastern Louisiana University
Symphony Orchestra, will be presented at Pottle Auditorium on Nov 29.
Featuring a variety of music from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the concert will
be held at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The program includes pieces composed in the classical style, such as Mozart’s
Overture to “The Magic Flute,” Beethoven’s “Romance for Violin and Orchestra Op. 50,”
and Haydn’s “Symphony No. 104” nicknamed “London.”
The presentation is the inaugural concert for Orchestra Director and Assistant
Professor of Violin Victor Correa-Cruz, who joined the Southeastern music faculty
last month.
“The composers featured in the concert used 18th century Vienna as their base
to learn and develop their careers, and from there they irradiated a strong influence
that has determined the path of classical music,” he said. “We seek to get lasting
inspiration from the music of these Viennese composers, whose creations have become
milestones in the history of Western music.”
Correa-Cruz said these pieces are real challenges for any orchestra, and he is
excited about this concert as well as the future of the Southeastern Symphony Orchestra.
“I look forward to presenting main symphonic works by the great masters of the
past, as well as promoting new music. Young and consolidated soloists will find their
space too, and future seasons will include family, pedagogical and pops concerts.”
Born in Spain, Correa-Cruz earned his degrees in violin and chamber music at
El Escorial and Madrid Conservatories, where he studied with violinist Pedro León.
He was a violin major at Indiana University, where he finished his master’s degree
as a student of Nelli Shkolnikova.
In 2010 Correa-Cruz founded the Orquesta de Cámara Extremeña, with selected musicians
from Extremadura, Spain. Acting as its concertmaster and conductor, the ensemble has
been acclaimed as one of the most solid and promising groups of the Spanish new generation.
Before joining the faculty at Southeastern, he was the head of the String Quartet
Department at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Salamanca in Spain and taught
violin and orchestra in Madrid at the prestigious Conservatorio “Adolfo Salazar.”
A significant number of his students have won national and international awards.
Correa-Cruz said the concert will also feature violin soloist Madison Day of
Philadelphia, who will perform the violin part of the “Romance Op. 50” for violin
and orchestra by Beethoven.
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Day made her solo debut with the Ocean City
Pops Orchestra at the age of 11. She has placed first in numerous competitions and
has performed as a soloist with the PIMF Chamber Orchestra, Temple Music Prep’s Youth
Chamber Orchestra, the Manalapan Battleground Symphony, the PBU Orchestra, the Ocean
City Pops Orchestra, the Warminster Symphony, Ambler Symphony, and the Lower Merion
Symphony.
Day is a Starling Scholar, a selected participant of the Juilliard School’s Gluck
Community Fellowship program, and a recipient of the Braverman String Quartet Scholarship.
She has a private violin studio in the Philadelphia area, is the teaching assistant
to Kimberly Fisher, and is an Artist in Residence at Temple University. Day is currently
the assistant artistic director of the Philadelphia International Music Festival.
For more information about the concert, contact the Department of Music and Performing
Arts at 985-549-2184.
