Beethoven Plays Masonic Heritage Center

While the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center’s Lodge Room and Museum have been attracting a stream of visitors for the past month, the Gideon S. Ives Auditorium has been quietly waiting for its debut. Finally, at 4:00 p.m. on September 25, 2016 the Auditorium will have its inaugural performance.

On that Sunday afternoon, the carefully crafted theater space will resonate with the melodious sounds of classical music composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Performing the music will be the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, guest pianists and soloists, and SONOMENTO, the premiere adult choral ensemble from MacPhail Center for Music.

This introductory event will introduce audiences to the new $20 million state-of-the-art concert hall, along with its special acoustic shell. Up to 443 guests—285 on the main floor and the rest in the balcony—can view the musicians without any obstruction. For listening to and observing performances, the Gideon S. Ives Auditorium is admirably well-appointed.

Included in the program on September 25^th are:

• Excerpts from Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera,
• Christ on the Mount of Olives, the piece he may have written to prepare for the opera,
• The C minor Pathetique piano sonata that Beethoven wrote when he was just 27, and
• The Archduke piano trio, a piece Beethoven dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, a close friend and patron.

The concert will conclude with joint orchestral and choral performance of “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Amazingly, he composed his final complete symphony after having gone completely deaf. First performed in 1824, the idea of choral and orchestral music in the same musical work was not known to audiences of the time. Now, of course, we could not imagine the classic piece without both parts.

Tickets are on sale now. To order, call 952-948-7811 or visit www.masonicheritagecenter.org and click on the green “Events & Ticketing” button.

Please join us in welcoming Beethoven to the inaugural concert in the Gideon S. Ives Auditorium.