OSWEGO — There will be an onstage reunion when pianist Robert Auler of SUNY Oswego appears with the Symphony Syracuse regional orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17, in Waterman Theatre on campus.
The performance by soon-to-be-renamed symphony will be under the baton of Heather Buchman, a friend of Auler’s since their graduate school days at the University of Michigan.
In addition to traveling widely as a concert pianist, Auler now serves as an associate professor of music at Oswego, while Buchman holds a similar post at Hamilton College, 70 miles away.
“As luck would have it,” Auler said, “I have the chance to collaborate with Maestro Buchman again.”
The orchestra’s concert, launching SUNY Oswego’s 2012-13 Artswego Performing Arts Series, offers the pianist and educator another singular opportunity: He headlines the evening as soloist for Beethoven’s “Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major,” popularly known as “Emperor.”
“From a pianist’s point of view, the chance to perform a concerto with an outstanding orchestra is as good as it gets,” Auler said, “and the ‘Emperor’ has long been one of my personal favorites.”
Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” and Paul Hindemith’s “Mathis der Maler” round out the program.
‘Invaluable’ opportunities
The concert will be one of the first for members of the professional regional orchestra since it reorganized recently as Musical Associates of Central New York in the wake of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra’s 2011 bankruptcy.
While the orchestra’s interim name has been Symphony Syracuse, the group has indicated a new performance name may be unveiled soon.
Auler calls “invaluable” the opportunities a top-flight regional orchestra provides to musicians and audiences, so he is pleased he could perform with the full symphony and — in a sold-out concert Oct. 10 — with its chamber ensemble this fall.
“I’m excited by the emerging spirit of cooperation between institutions like ours and the symphony,” he said.
Tickets for the concert, priced at $25 ($20 for seniors ages 60 and over, youths 17 and under and SUNY Oswego faculty and staff; $6 for SUNY Oswego students), are available at all SUNY Oswego box offices, online at tickets.oswego.edu or by calling 312-2141.
Patrons with disabilities needing assistance should call 312-2141 prior to the performance.
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