Mendelssohn Concerto Featured at Jan. 30 Galveston Symphony Performance

GALVESTON – Violin soloist Steve McMillan and pianist Meryl Ettleson will be featured with the Galveston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Piano in D Minor at 7 pm, Sunday, Jan. 30 at the Grand 1894 Opera House.

McMillan is concertmaster of both the Galveston Symphony Orchestra and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. He received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at Rice University, where he was a three-time winner of the Dorothy Richard Starling Award for violin study.

Since graduating from Rice, McMillan has performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Houston Grand Opera and has worked with several of the world’s renowned conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Max Rudolph, and Cornelius Eberhardt.

Ettelson made her debut as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 13. A graduate of Indiana University where she achieved her doctorate in piano performance, she has since performed as a soloist around the country. The 1988 winner of the International Piano Recording Competition has been a music faculty member at several universities, including Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. She is a staff accompanist at the University of Houston.

Also featured on the Jan. 30 concert program: Los Esclavos Felices Overture by Arriaga; and Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 6 in F.

The Galveston Symphony Orchestra is lead by internationally acclaimed conductor and musical director Richard Pickar. Pickar was principal clarinetist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra for 31 years.

The GSO celebrates its 25^th silver anniversary this season.

Individual tickets for Galveston Symphony Orchestra performances are $15 for general admission and $12 for senior citizens and students. Special ‘Mini-Season’ packages are also available through Jan. 30. To purchase tickets, call the Opera House at (409) 765-1894, or toll-free at (800) 821-1894 or visit the website at www.thegrand.com.  Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the performance.