This Saturday night, Dan Allcott will lead his final performance as conductor and Music Director of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra. Allcott has led the orchestra for twelve years and says that he felt that it was time for the organization to have fresh new ideas and leadership to take the orchestra to the next level. His final concert will feature a composition entitled Blink by Knoxville-based composer, Jorge Variego, Dvorak's Symphony No.8, and the Cello Concerto by Dvorak, which will be performed by fourteen-year-old cellist, Joshua Kovác. Based in Johnson City, Kovác performed the first movement of Edouard Lalo's Cello Concerto several years ago with the Oak Ridge Symphony after he won the Youth Aliyah Concerto Competition. You can see and hear Joshua perform a brief excerpt from the concerto here: https://youtu.be/VmAeyyeDZ2o
Maestro Allcott says he plans to spend more time on his job responsibilities in Cookeville, TN, where he teaches cello at Tennessee Tech University, and leads both the University Symphony Orchestra and the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. He also says he hopes to play the cello a bit more than his schedule currently allows.
Get to know Joshua Kovác and hear Maestro Allcott reminisce about highlights during his twelve-year tenure in this interview with Morning Concert host, Melony Dodson.
The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra's season finale concert will take place in the historic Grove Theatre in Oak Ridge on Saturday, May 7th at 7:30pm. Tickets and additional information are available at https://orcma.org/seasoncelebrations
