Welcome to the Cobb Symphony Orchestra (CSO)

Mahler Unleashed!
The Cobb Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Mahler's Magnificent Second Symphony, "Resurrection"

Michael Alexander, Music Director
John Concklin, Associate Conductor
Jana Young, soprano
Magdalena Wor, mezzo soprano

October 17 | 8 PM
October 18 | 3 PM

Bobbie Bailey Performing Arts Center
Kennesaw State University

All tickets are $15

COBB COUNTY, GA - On Saturday, October 17 at 8 pm and Sunday, October 18, at 3 pm, the Cobb Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Michael Alexander invite you to join soprano Jana Young, mezzo soprano Magdalena Wor, The Cobb Symphony Chorus and the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in Gustav Mahler's highly acclaimed Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection". This event will take place at the Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performing Arts Center on the campus of Kennesaw State University. For tickets and additional information contact the Cobb Symphony at (770) 429 - 7016 or visit online at www.CobbSymphony.org.

“It is such a thrill to be able to have the resources and community investment to perform a piece like Mahler Symphony #2 and to have the opportunity to perform it in a great acoustical space like the Bailey Center at KSU," notes Music Director Michael Alexander. "Hearing Mahler’s Second is an experience you will never forget. The piece alone uses approximately 200 musicians in the performance.”

Executive Director Brian Hermanson also acknowledges "it is a significant honor to perform such as master piece and the CSO is very proud and excited to be able to have the opportunity to collaborate with two amazing singers - Ms. Jana Young and Ms. Magdalena Wor".

Guests may further explore their CSO experience throughout the year by using any number of initiatives in place by the Cobb Symphony including:

Ask Mike! - a way to ask CSO Music Director Michael Alexander any question you may have about an activity of the Cobb Symphony
Explore the On-line Conservatory - Meet our Music Director Mike Alexander and get a unique view of the most highly anticipated concerts this season. The CSO's innovative, new exclusive interview series with Michael Alexander is your guide to what's playing on and beyond the stage.
Chat! - Tech savvy and don't fell like picking up the phone or typing an e-mail, chat with someone from the CSO directly from the website.
Casual Friday's - an opportunity to talk with Associate Conductor John Concklin and that concert's guest before rehearsal and then get a behind-the-scenes look at an actual rehearsal
Explore Your CSO Experience Podcasts - This series is dedicated to erasing classical music's elitist stigma and attracting a new generation of fans. Throughout the episodes, you will explore the great masterworks, community projects, interesting conversations with people in the community locally and nationally, in addition to a host of other interesting and exciting things.

Guest Artists
JANA YOUNG is highly praised for her beautiful lyric singing, most notably in the bel canto repertoire, soprano Jana Young is a native of Louisiana. She received her vocal training at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she holds two degrees; a B.M.Ed and a BM in Vocal Pedagogy. She later moved to Dallas, Texas to continue her vocal study with Madeline Sanders, a student of Gina Cigna. Mrs. Young moved to Darmstadt, Germany upon scholarship with the American Institute of Musical Studies and remained in Europe performing in recitals, and concert. While in Darmstadt, Ms. Young studied with Eva von Ambrosius of the Frankfurt Stadtstheater. Upon returning to the United States, Mrs. Young graduated with a M.M. in Vocal Performance from The University of Louisiana-Monroe, where she studied with Dr. John Burgin.

During her year at The University of Louisiana Jana Young was selected to premiere Richard Hervig's "Five Romantic Songs", the winner of the first NATS song composition competition. She regularly sings with the Naples Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Christopher Seamon, and sings with the Miami Bach Society, the Miami Youth Orchestra, as soloist with the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami, Collegium Musicum, Mainly Mozart Festival, the Nakamichi Concert Series in Boston, and the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Young was the soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony # 2, under noted Mahler expert, Gilbert Kaplan, soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Mass in C major, and Mozart's Solemn Vespers with the Bahamian National Choir and Orchestra, in Nassau, Bahama. She also was the soprano soloist in premiere and subsequent recording of Steven Edward's Ave Maria Mass with the London Sinfonia Orchestra.

In 2003, Jana Young was the featured soloist at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, for "A Birthday Concert Celebration for Ned Rorem" with the noted composer present. She was cited in the New York papers for her ability to achieve the "near impossible" by alternating the angular vocal lines with perfect skill and lyric beauty of tone in performances of two of his most famous songs: Alleluia and The Silver Swan, and as the soprano soloist with the Miami Chamber Ensemble in Rorem"s Ariel: Five Poems of Sylvia Plath. This past year, Mrs. Young was the soprano soloist in Schubert"s Mass in Eb, with the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Maestro Jo-Michael Scheibe.

From 1991-2005, Mrs. Young served on the voice faculty at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. Beginning in the fall of 2005, Ms. Young is Artist-In-Residence on the voice faculty at Kennesaw State University. Ms Young is also active as a vocal clinician, adjudicator and Master Class Teacher. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

MAGDALENA WOR is a First Place Winner of the Heinz Rehfuss Vocal Competition, a Metropolitan Opera Competition National Finalist, a Winner of the Mozart Society of Atlanta Competition and an alumna of the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Summer Opera Program, Chautauqua Music Institution’s Marlena Malas Voice Program, St. Louis Opera Theatre’s Gerdine Young Artist Program, and the Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program where she sang the role of Zita in Gianni Schicchi for the Young Artist Program and Grimgerge in Die Walküre, Herdswoman in Jenůfa, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Giovanna in Rigoletto and the 3rd Maidservant in Elektra for the main stage. Recent engagements include Tisbe in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with the Atlanta Opera, a Christmas Concert with New Trinity Baroque, a recital at the Polish Embassy in Washington DC, as well as an evening of Russian Fairy Tale Operas with the Russian Chamber Arts Society.

Ms. Wór’s upcoming performances include Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Ashlawn Opera Festival, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the National Philharmonic, and the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with the Palm Beach Opera.

Magdalena is originally from Poland and has lived in the United States since 1991. She received her Bachelor and Masters degrees in vocal performance from Georgia State University and studies with Magdalena Moulson-Falewicz.

The Cobb Symphony Orchestra strives to ensure artistic excellence in a diverse community that takes pride in the Orchestra's artistic success and feels a sense of ownership for the Orchestra. The Cobb Symphony is further dedicated to becoming a catalyst for community collaborations and for lifelong learning, using technology and other means to broaden the musical experience of current and future audiences. For more information, visit www.CobbSymphony.org or call (770) 429 - 7016.

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