Music Director Shizuo Kuwahara and Symphony Orchestra Augusta feature principal oboist Kelly Odell in concert on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20^TH at 7:30 P.M. at First Baptist of Augusta on Walton Way Extension.  Tickets are available at www.soaugusta.org or by calling the Symphony office, 706.826.4705.

Celebrating Ms. Odell’s 20 years as the orchestra’s principal oboe, Maestro Kuwahara is featuring her in a work of her choice – Bach’s Concerto Oboe d’amore A major.  The oboe d’amore is a double reed woodwind instrument, slightly larger than an oboe, featuring a pear-shaped bell and a bocal (a mouthpiece which is a curved and tapered tube and an integral part of double reed instruments).  Pitched a minor third below the oboe, it is the alto or mezzo soprano of the oboe family.  Its tone is less penetrating and more serene.  It was invented in the 18^th century and was used by Bach in many pieces.  Its popularity waned toward the end of the 18^th century, and it was rarely used for about a hundred years until Strauss, Debussy, and Ravel among others, included it in their orchestrations.

This “Baroque & Beyond” concert features music from the Baroque and classical periods.  The orchestra opens with Handel’s Overture & Entrance of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon.  The second half of the program features Maestro Kuwahara and the orchestra in Bach’s Suite (Overture) No. 1 BMV 1066, C major and Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 K. 183 G minor.

Concert tickets are $25, $35 and $45. Tickets for full-time students and military personnel with valid I.D. are $7, sold at the box office, opening at 6:30 p.m., previous to the 7:30 p.m. concert. To purchase all other tickets in advance, call 706.826.4705 or visit www.soaugusta.org.

Kelly Odell, Oboist

Kelly Odell has an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and a Performance Certificate from the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. She was a winner of the Concerto Competition at the University of Massachusetts where she received her master’s degree. She has been on the faculty of Bates College and Georgia Southern University and is presently the oboe instructor at Augusta State University. Ms. Odell has performed with the Portland Symphony, Springfield Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Greenville Symphony, Columbia Philharmonic, Hilton Head Symphony, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. She has toured Western Europe with the Ricciotti Ensemble, an orchestra dedicated to performing new music.

THE SYMPHONY SERIES SPONSOR is MCGHEALTH. Concert Sponsors for the evening’s performance are DR. ELAINE FELDMAN & Dr. & Mrs. ALLAN STOCKS.  Media sponsors are AT&T The Real Yellow Pages, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and The Augusta Chronicle.

Tickets for Symphony Orchestra Augusta’s Symphony Series, Pops! at the Bell, Columbia County Music Series, and Family Fun Series concerts are available purchase on the website – www.soaugusta.org, or by calling the Symphony office at 706.826.4705.  For additional information, email marketing@soaugusta.org, fax 706.826.4735 or visit www.soaugusta.org. Located on the second floor of Sacred Heart Cultural Center on the corner of 13^th and Greene Streets, the Symphony office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.