Centre News

Ian Wilson, Steve Hoffman, Barbara Hall and Nathan Link
(from left) will lead the “Vienna and ‘the Dude’ Do Danville” convo
on Thursday, Sept. 23. They will be discussing the upcoming
performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Maestro Gustavo Dudamel at Centre on September 27.

The concert will be held in the College’s Norton Center for the
Arts, one of only two venues in the United States to host the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dudamel, the other
being New York’s Carnegie Hall. The Centre concert, part of the
Alltech Fortnight Festival in conjunction with the Alltech World
Equestrian Games, is the North American debut of the VPO/
Dudamel pairing.

At a convocation on Thursday, Sept. 23, three Centre College faculty members and Steve Hoffman, the new executive director of Centre’s Norton Center for the Arts, will prepare the community for what has been called the most important musical event in the history of Kentucky: a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro Gustavo Dudamel at Centre the following Monday, Sept. 27. The orchestra will perform to a sold-out house.

The convocation, “Vienna and ‘the Dude’ Do Danville,” is free and open to the public. It will be in Newlin Hall at 7:30 p.m. (Newspapers and magazines have dubbed the effusive 29-year-old conductor “the Dude.”)

German Professor Ian Wilson, who has lived in Vienna, will talk about the city and its prominence in musical history. Music Professor Nathan Link will introduce the genre of the symphony, focusing on the Dvorak “New World Symphony” that will be performed by the VPO. Stodghill Professor of Music Barbara Hall will discuss conducting and Dudamel. Hoffman will emcee the convocation.

Hoffman said that this convocation could be called, “The VPO is coming; so what?” It will allow, he said, three knowledgeable Centre professors, with different perspectives, to share their excitement about the event.

Danville is the only place, other than New York City, where the VPO will perform in North America this year. And the Centre performance will be the American debut of Dudamel conducting the VPO.

Dudamel, the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has been featured on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, PBS, NPR, and NBC’s Dateline. He has achieved a rare, super-star status in the classical music world. Critics have compared him to the young Leonard Bernstein. The Vienna Philharmonic is regarded by many critics as the best orchestra in the world.

Centre sponsors approximately 50 convocations each year, including programs and performances by prominent scholars, writers, and performers. Most convocations are open to the public.

For more on the VPO/Dudamel concert, click here.