Terre Haute Symphony Concertmaster Elina Rubio Will Dazzle in Season Finale

The Terre Haute Symphony, under the direction of Artistic Director and Conductor David Bowden, performs its final concert of the 22-23 Season We’re Playing for You! on Saturday, April 29 at 7:30pm in Tilson Music Hall on the campus of Indiana State University.  The concert, entitled Brahms & Tchaikovsky, features Concertmaster Elina Rubio performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto.  The concert opens with the lilting Danse Nègre by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and will close with Tchaikovsky’s thrilling Fourth Symphony. 

When Elina debuted as the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster in 2021 playing the virtuosic violin solos in Scheherazade, the audience was abuzz with excitement.  In the season finale, audiences will enjoy the opportunity to experience Rubio’s exquisite musicality as she plays Brahms’ passionate Violin Concerto. 

Born in Elche, Spain, Elina Rubio Pentcheva received early instruction on the violin from her violinist mother, Tania Pentcheva Boneva. When Elina was only nine years old, she won the San Andreu de la Barca Competition in Barcelona as well as many other international competitions in the following years. At the age of 13 Elina started her undergraduate college studies as Saxony’s youngest student at Dresden’s “Carl Maria von Weber” School of Music. Elina has now completed both her Artist Diploma and her Performers Diploma at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. 

“The Brahms Violin Concerto is as much of a challenge technically as it is emotionally. The piece displays a lyricism that sounds spontaneous, yet right at the very opening we find turbulent emotions interwoven with melodies that create a magically serene atmosphere. I am incredibly excited to perform this piece with my THSO colleagues for the Terre Haute community!” notes THSO Concertmaster and featured world-class violinist, Elina Rubio. 

Johannes Brahms wrote his only violin concerto for his dear friend, Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, who was one of the most important violinists of the 19th century. Joachim premiered the Violin Concerto in Leipzig on New Year’s Day, 1879, with Brahms conducting. As often happens, the concerto was not well received initially. One critic famously remarked that it sounded more like “a concerto against the violin.” But, of course, the virtues of the work became apparent as time passed, and by the turn of the century, the concerto had become one of the most beloved violin concertos ever written.  

First on the program is a sparkling work by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor entitle Danse Nègre. The work is heavily inspired by African themes and his Sierra Leonian heritage. In the African Suite and other pieces, Coleridge-Taylor sought to capture some of the spirit of traditional African music in a work that is otherwise squarely in the European classical realm. He places himself alongside Liszt and Brahms, who took the same approach with Hungarian music, or Dvořák with Bohemian music. Beginning with two emphatic chords, Danse Nègre opens with a pair of lively, rhythmic themes, developed at length in properly symphonic fashion. A middle section provides contrast with a richly orchestrated lyrical melody. Finally, the lively themes return and the dance ends much as it began.   

The concert will also feature one of Tchaikovsky’s most celebrated and beloved works, his Fourth Symphony. “There are few works in the orchestra repertoire that can equal the sheer exhilaration of the conclusion of ‘Tchaik 4,’” commented Dr. Bowden.  “But the journey through the emotions of the work lead us from absolute despair through struggle to complete triumph.” 

The Fourth Symphony is powerfully emotional.  It begins with the misery of life’s struggles representing fate hanging over one’s head like a sword.  The theme suggests an all-consuming gloom that devours any brief glimpse of happiness, which appear mostly in the form of lighter melodies in waltz time appearing in the second movement which includes an achingly beautiful oboe theme. A playful pizzicato theme follows in the third movement. Then, the fiery battle between fate and the composer erupts in the exhilarating triumphant conclusion of the work. Having carried its listeners from gloom to melancholy to slow recovery to life-affirming energy, Symphony No. 4 ultimately concludes with Tchaikovsky’s prescription for happiness:  If you cannot find happiness in yourself, look at others. Get out among the people… life is bearable after all. 

This concert is proudly sponsored by William and Nancy Shriner, Robert L. Cowden, Carl Bender and Barbara Brugnaux, Dick and Betsy Frank, and Riddell National Bank.  

Supper at the Symphony 

Make it a date night with a concert and Supper at the Symphony! Come to the concert early and enjoy a delectable three-course meal served in the McKee Family Heritage Ballroom of Tirey Hall, right down the hall from Tilson Auditorium. The cash bar opens at 5:00pm, and dinner is served promptly at 5:30pm. Dinner reservations are $25 per person. Patrons will enjoy a salad to start and choose one entrée of either Horseradish Chicken, Honey Soy Glazed Salmon, or Vegetarian Creamy Pasta Primavera, all served with Spinach Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, and Glazed Carrots. Lemon and Raspberry White Chocolate Mousse will be served for dessert. Reservations can be made at www.thso.org or by calling the THSO office at (812) 242-8476. Reservations close at 12pm on Tuesday, April 25. 

Concert Conversations 

Join Artistic Director, Dr. David Bowden, as he talks about the repertoire performed on this concert and interviews guest artist Elina Rubio during Concert Conversations in the McKee Family Heritage Ballroom in Tirey Hall on the campus of Indiana State University before the concert at 6:45pm. FREE to all concert ticket holders! 

Concert Tickets   

Patrons can purchase concert tickets by visiting www.thso.org or calling the Hulman Center at (812) 237-3737. Ticket prices for adults are $17, $38, and $54. Student and youth tickets are $4, $7, and $10. Prices do not include facility and venue fees.   

ISU Student Tickets 

ISU students receive FREE tickets to THSO concerts! Students can show their student ID at the Tilson Auditorium ticket window starting at 6:30pm before a concert to receive a free ticket. Only 100 tickets are available for ISU students. Students can get their tickets in advance by visiting the Hulman Center box office.  

Accessible Entrance 

An elevator is available for patrons who need accessible entry at the rear of Tirey Hall. Patrons can be dropped off behind Tirey Hall in the alley between Fairbanks and Tilson for direct access to the elevator or enter through the ground level at the front of Tilson Auditorium via the downstairs lobby. Signage will be posted at the venue with directions to the elevator. 

Parking   

Patrons may park in the Indiana State University Parking garage located at 750 Cherry Street for free between 4 PM and 11 PM on the day of the concert. This parking garage is located across the street from Tilson Auditorium.