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Franz makes debut with Boise Philharmonic

NAMPA — Ladies and gentlemen ... without further ado the Boise Philharmonic welcomes Music Director Robert Franz to his 2008-2009 Inaugural Season.Franz’s historic season is a balance of innovation and discovery with core masterpieces blended with a taste of various cultures along the way. The eight subscription concerts from Sept. 12, 13 through May 15 present five guest artists, a guest composer, three guest conductors, a multi-media experience with film, orchestra and chorus, a lively Basque flavored evening, and a Sousa Pops concert finale. Franz will grace the podium, raise his baton and address the talented musicians as the Philharmonic ushers in a new musical era.Opening night anniversaryA decade ago Rachel Barton Pine became an instant Philharmonic favorite when she accompanied the orchestra’s first performance at Northwest Nazarene University’s Swayne Auditorium. On Friday, Sept. 12, Barton Pine returns to help celebrate the venue’s 10th anniversary and another beginning: the first downbeat of Robert Franz as Conductor and Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic. Considered “a great ambassador of the violin,” Barton Pine takes audiences on a whirlwind musical trip performing anywhere and anything, from “Dixie” to “Whiplash” by Metallica, to Tchailkovsky’s violin concerto, chosen by Maestro Franz. For the Philharmonic’s season debut under Franz’s direction, the new musical director as chosen to evoke a feeling of summer picnics and band concerts in “Gazebo Dances” by one of America’s best known living composers, John Corigliano. To conclude, Maestro Franz sheds light on Dvorak’s lively and lyrical “Symphony No. 6,” an overlooked diamond in the shadows of its successors. Philharmonic marketing director Tina Kierce said some Season Tickets remain. They range from $112 to $211 per person. “That includes all eight classical concerts in the season,” Kierce said.  “You can’t go to the movies for that.” Single concert tickets went on sale Tuesday, priced at $16, $25 and $30. NNU students are admitted free and all other students pay $10.