Civic Symphony of Green Bay to hold concert and art auction

The Civic Symphony of Green Bay will hold its Brushstrokes & Bowstrokes concert and Canvas to Crescendo art auction on Friday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Weidner Center.

These events are being held to mix two different creative mediums: music and the visual arts.

The Brushstrokes & Bowstrokes concert will bring together Civic Symphony musicians and Pansky Concerto Competition winners to play a selection of music that showcases the importance of the arts.

“You use a different part of your brain to think creatively and it is something that we can share with the community,” said Timberly Kazmarek Marbes, executive director and clarinetist for the symphony.

The musical pieces included in the concert are: “Danse Macabre,” “Mona Lisa,” “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” and “Pictures at an Exhibition.” The concert will also include “Zigeunerweisen” by Pablo de Sarasate, which will be performed by Malina Zhang, and “Concerto for Bass Trombone” by Elizabeth Raum, performed by Thomas McGowan, the winners of the Pansky Concerto Competition at the high school and college levels.

“The level of time and skill they’ve put into preparing their works is really impressive for musicians at such a young age,” said Kazmarek Marbes. The concert will conclude with a reception.

The Civic Symphony is also currently running an art auction called Canvas to Crescendo.
Local artists created and donated pieces, of which there are over 60, to the symphony as a fundraiser for the group.

“We partnered with a lot of community artists in town, and as far up as Door County and Appleton to the South,” said Kazmarek Marbes.

Bidding has already opened and will close after intermission the day of the concert.

The pieces will be on display before the concert, which opens at 5:30 p.m., so that they can be viewed by bidders. Bids can be placed online at https://givebutter.com/c/canvas-to-crescendo.

In addition to the evening concert, there will also be a morning concert for local schools.
This concert is a tradition that the Civic Symphony is continuing this year.

However, something new the symphony is doing this year is showing a slideshow of the students’ art while they play.

“We’ve taken these 10 mini movements and allowed the kids to draw pictures to go with the music. There is a slideshow that is created to show the kids’ work while the movement is playing,” said Lynn Liddle-Drewiske, the education committee chair for the symphony and a flutist.

The Civic Symphony has a few missions, one of which is to provide educational opportunities to the community.

Musicians “volunteer their time to go into the schools during the school day and show their instruments and talk about the concert to get the kids excited,” said Kazmarek Marbes. “It’s just a really good way to tie the mission of the orchestra in with the actual community and start to expand the listenership of classical music.”

Kazmarek Marbes added that, “To be able to bring that to the kids is really important because, as art funding gets cut nationwide, it’s a way that we can provide a service that maybe they don’t get as much as they used to in the school.”

The symphony is led by Seong-Kyung Graham and is composed of volunteer musicians of all ages and backgrounds from across Northeast Wisconsin.

Practice starts five weeks before the concert and the musicians are dedicated to creating an enjoyable experience for all.

“Its a very friendly group of people, high level players, and we all volunteer,” said Liddle-Drewiske. “I really enjoy working with them.”

When asked about their favorite piece, both Liddle-Drewiske and Kazmarek Marbes responded with Danse Macabre.

“It has a very prominent violin solo in it that’s based on a tritone, which is an interval in music that’s a little unusual, and it’s called the devils tritone because of its a little evil and spooky sounding,” said Kazmarek Marbes.

This piece is the first in the concert, and is meant to capture the audience’s attention.

Tickets for the concert are available at weidnercenter.com.