EDMOND—The Armstrong International Cultural Foundation is at the midpoint of its 2019-2020 season, having presented four performances to Oklahoma City metro audiences since September and preparing for four more.
This season, the foundation began implementing insights from a five-year study by a professional consultancy in Colorado to maximize the number of concertgoers and enhance each visitor’s experience at each event. In November, it was named to the “Hall of Fame” of the TripSavvy.com Editors Choice Awards, and in January, the guest services manager for the Oklahoma City professional basketball team visited the auditorium to research how award-winning venues train their staff.
The Four Italian Tenors (Sept. 12, 2019)
The quartet performed its “Viva Italia!” program of great tenor arias and songs on its first tour of the United States for a crowd of 706 concertgoers, one of whom wrote on TripAdvisor.com: “Beautiful venue. If you have the opportunity to take in a play or musical do not miss out on this outstanding cultural experience.”
Daniel Hope, Violin, With Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Nov. 12, 2019)
Conducting from the violin to an orchestra of 20 for an audience of 540, Hope performed Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque “Four Seasons” and Max Richter’s “Vivaldi Recomposed.” One concertgoer wrote, “Fantastic performance!!! The atmosphere and the sound were amazing!!! We enjoyed coming here and will invite friends and neighbors for the next classic show.”
Lomazov/Rackers Piano Duo (Dec. 3, 2019)
The husband-wife duo performed pieces from Witold Lutoslawski Igor Stravinsky, W.A. Mozart, Johannes Brahms and others in “Variations on 176 Keys” for an audience of 388. One guest remarked, “You both are doing such fantastic things at Armstrong,” one regular visitor said. “Yesterday we met a couple at a hotel who drives two and a half hours from the Oklahoma panhandle to attend the series every time!”
David B. Hooten (January 16, 2020)
The Grammy Award and Emmy Award-nominated trumpeter and six other musicians performed “The Legends of Dixieland,” an upbeat show depicting a traditional New Orleans funeral with “St. Louis Blues,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Five Foot Two” and other songs. One visitor wrote, “Every musical event at the Armstrong Auditorium has been thrilling. The best musicians I have ever heard whether it is jazz or classical. Love it.”
Ballet Folclórico Nacional de Mexico de Silvia Lozano (February 13, 2020)
Under the direction of Silvia Lozno, the ensemble depicts authentic regional dances of Mexico and will present its “Fiesta of Color” program.
Vladimir Lande and Siberian State Symphony Orchestra (March 4, 2020)
Now on its U.S. tour, the Krasnoyarks, Russia, orchestra and its artistic director will perform Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Julian Schwarz, Cellist, Gerard Schwarz and Mozart Orchestra Of New York (March 24, 2020)
Father and son will combine with the Mozart Orchestra of New York for cello masterpieces from composers Haydn and Vivaldi in a program of “Father-Son Duos” that will include the rarely performed Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto, played by Julian Schwarz and the cultural foundation’s own Seth Malone (cello), and his father, concert manager Ryan Malone (harpsichord).
Chanticleer (April 23, 2020)
The 12-man vocal ensemble will present “Trade Winds—Exotic Climes, Exotic Locations,” including sea shanties from both sides of the Atlantic and songs from the Portuguese and Spanish colonies in Asia, as well as Hawaii, in addition to folk and contemporary works from China, Japan, Korea and Samoa, as well as works by Chen Yi and Zhou Tian.