'100 Years of Oklahoma Music' concert set for Friday-Saturday
BY JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Thursday, February 07, 2013
2/07/13 at 4:16 AM
Seven years ago as Oklahoma was gearing up to celebrate its centennial as a state, the Signature Symphony debuted a special salute to the music and musicians of Oklahoma.
"And we've received more requests to do that show again than for any other concert we've ever done," said Barry Epperley, the orchestra's artistic director.
Which is why, Epperley said, not many changes have been made for the 2013 edition of "100 Years of Oklahoma Music," which the orchestra will present this weekend as part of its pops series.
The orchestra will be accompanied by the Signature Chorale and the same four vocalists who made up the "Signature Stars" at the first 2006 concert - Lisa Stefanic, Marla Patterson, Booker Gillespie and Mitch Adams, who will also serve as the evening's narrator.
"Vern Stefanic is reworking his script to bring it more up to date," Epperley said. "Maybe the biggest change is that Dan Wootton will be in the place that Larry Dalton was the first time."
Dalton, an internationally known artist who died in 2009, was the orchestra's principal pianist and arranger. His contribution to the original concert was a medley of songs that ranged from Mae Axton's "Heartbreak Hotel" to Ralph Blane's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
"But to be honest, we aren't going to be changing a great deal for this concert," Epperley said. "It was pretty well put together."
The evening will open in an American Indian melody played on a traditional flute, then proceed through the early-20th-century blues and jazz of artists such as Ruby Darby and Count Basie, the folk songs of Woody Guthrie, the Western Swing of Bob Wills, the operatic pop of Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park," and contemporary country music of Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire.
"We're also going to be doing the a cappella arrangement I did of 'Yesterday, When I Was Young' that was one of Roy Clark's biggest hits," Epperley said. "And, of course, we'll wrap things up with 'Oklahoma!' "
100 YEARS OF OKLAHOMA MUSIC
When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday
Where: VanTrease PACE, 10300
E. 81st St.
Tickets: $27.50-$49. 918-595-
7777, tulsaworld.com/mytix.
Original Print Headline: Symphony to perform '100 Years'
James D. Watts Jr. 918-581-8478
james.watts@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Barry Epperley conducts the Signature Symphony during a rehearsal at the VanTrease PACE. The Signature Symphony presents "100 Years of Oklahoma Music" beginning Friday. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World file
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