In this episode, we sit down with Music Director Christopher Wilkins to talk about our 2021-22 concert season, which continues our commitment to presenting a diverse musical experience to Northeast Ohio.

With classics from Beethoven’s Fifth to Handel’s Water Music, jazz-influenced works by Duke Ellington and Aldemaro Romero, innovative works for Korean dancers and a collaboration with Akron-based EarthQuaker Devices, and a spotlight on composers who deserve greater recognition like Florence Price, Julia Perry and William Dawson, the upcoming season is filled  variety and vitality.

The episode also includes a few samples of the music that we will perform during the season.

The full concert schedule, along with information about subscriptions and single tickets, is available on the Akron Symphony’s website.

In this episode, we are joined by co-host Ken Heinlein, principal tuba of the ASO, for a talk with composer David Biedenbender about his career, his influences and his music.

The Akron Symphony will perform David’s Kyrie (for Machaut and Pärt) as part of its Outside Voices Concert Series in the summer of 2021.

David Biedenbender, a composer, conductor, performer, educator, and interdisciplinary collaborator. He has written music for the concert stage as well as for dance and multimedia collaborations, and his work is often influenced by his diverse musical experiences in rock and jazz bands as an electric bassist, in wind, jazz, and New Orleans-style brass bands as a euphonium, bass trombone, and tuba player, and by his study of Indian Carnatic music.

His creative interests include working with everyone from classically trained musicians to improvisers, acoustic chamber music to large ensembles, and interactive electronic interfaces to live brain data.

In addition to composing, David is a dedicated teacher and is currently an Associate Professor of Composition in the College of Music at Michigan State University.

Learn more about David’s work on his website, and follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Dudack, who has been a member of our percussion section since 2000, to talk about his career in music, the history (and his love) of the steel drum, the best drummers of all time, and more as part of our ASO Conversation series.

Matt Dudack is a senior lecturer in music at The University of Akron School of Music Percussion Department and the Artistic Director of The University of Akron Steel Drum Band. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the Hartt School and a master’s degree in percussion performance from The University of Akron. 

Under his direction The University of Akron Steel Drum Band has received many accolades, including Grammy and Emmy award nominations, and has performed for such dignitaries as President Bill Clinton and (then candidate) Barack Obama. 

Matt is co-founder of the Akros Percussion Collective, a chamber group which performs contemporary music internationally. He also leads Found Sounds, a group which performs in-school educational concerts for the Children's Concert Society of Summit County  and throughout Northeast Ohio. He is also on the faculties of the Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Akron and Canton Country Day School in Canton. 

To learn more the Akron Symphony, including our Outdoor Voices Concert series, visit out website.