Student Conducts The Baylor Symphony Orchestra Jan. 27

by Richard Veit

Ashley Ham, a senior viola major from Woodstock, Ga., will lead the Baylor Symphony Orchestra in its next concert, presented in cooperation with the Baylor University Honors Program. This event--featuring works by two of the greatest Austrian composers--will take place on Thursday, January 27, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Concert Hall, which is located within the Glennis McCrary Music Building..
The program will open with Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ("Songs of a Wayfarer"), an 1885 song cycle which Grove considers to be the masterpiece of Mahler's early years. Performing as vocal soloist will be baritone Jonathan Aigner, a senior from League City.
In addition to the Mahler, Miss Ham will also conduct the Baylor Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G major, the so-called "Surprise" Symphony. This famous work from 1791, one of Haydn's splendid London symphonies, acquired its odd nickname from a shocking sforzando that occurs near the beginning of its second movement, causing the composer to write, "Here the ladies will shriek."
This concert is free of charge and open to the public. For more information, call the Baylor University School of Music at 254-710-3991.