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Cedar Rapids Symphony unveils post-flood 2008-09 season

By Loren Keller

Despite losing its home at the Paramount Theatre due to the massive flooding in June, the Cedar Rapids Symphony (CRSO) announced today it will present its 2008-2009 season in its entirety.

That’s especially good news for symphony aficionados living in Iowa City, as the CRSO has added half a dozen Sunday matinee shows to its Masterworks series that will be performed at Iowa City West High School and the downtown Englert Theatre.

In Cedar Rapids, the CRSO will return to Coe College’s Sinclair Auditorium, where the group performed its inaugural concert in 1921 and during Paramount Theatre renovations in 2003-2004.

Sinclair Auditorium seats about a thousand, or just over half the capacity of the 1,930-seat Paramount Theatre. The matinee shows in Iowa City were added to accommodate the symphony’s 800-plus subscribers as well as buyers of single tickets, says CRSO marketing director Christy Frost.

“What a great opportunity, really, to visit some different venues and different communities,” Frost says. “We do have a lot of people who come from Iowa City or the Corridor area that could take advantage of that. Many of our musicians are from Iowa City, too.”

CRSO executive director Robert Massey and conductor Tim Hankewich began looking for alternative venues immediately after floodwaters inundated the Paramount Theatre on June 13, Frost says.

“Our plan instantly was ‘we’re going to perform. There’s not reason why we can’t, we just have to find somewhere to do it,’” Frost says. “Finding a venue the size of the Paramount was definitely a challenge. There really isn’t anything. The ones that are options also suffered damaged.”

Three Masterworks concert dates have changed due to venue space limitations but “otherwise, everything else is happening,” Frost says.

The Pops Series presentation of Anne Hampton Callaway’s “To Ella With Love” and Holiday Pops will also call Sinclair Auditorium home, with one additional Holiday Pops concert being performed in Iowa City as well. A date and location for the final concert in the series, “Jeans and Classics: Take It To the Limit, The Music of the Eagles,” has yet to be determined.

The CRSO’s opening night presentation, featuring Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, will take place on the lawn at Brucemore on Saturday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Season ticket packages to the Cedar Rapids or Iowa City Masterworks Series, as well as the Pops Series, are on sale at the CRSO ticket office at 800 Second Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids or available by phone at (319) 366-8203 or 800-369-TUNE. More information is available at the CRSO web site.

Locations for the symphony’s Chamber, Discovery and Youth concerts have yet to be determined.

Here is the CRSO’s 2008-09 schedule:

Masterworks Series

“Masterworks I: Ode to Joy”—Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m., Brucemore (2160 Linden Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids)

“Masterworks II: Homecoming”—Oct. 18, 8 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium (Coe College, 1220 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids) and Oct. 19, 2 p.m., West High School (2901 Melrose Ave., Iowa City)

“Masterworks III: Music Al Fresco”—Nov. 22, 8 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium and Nov. 23, 2 p.m., Englert Theatre (221 E. Washington St., Iowa City)

“Masterworks IV: A Clarion Call”—Jan. 24, 2009, 8 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium and Jan. 25, 2009, 2 p.m., West High School

“Masterworks V: Spotlight Hollywood”—Feb. 14, 2009, 8 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium and Feb. 15, 2 p.m. West High School

“Masterworks VI: Spring at Last”—March 21, 2009, 8 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium and March 22, 2009, 2 p.m., West High School

“Masterworks VII: Bohemian Rhapsody”—May 2, 2009, 8 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium and May 3, 2009, 2 p.m., West High School

Pops Series

“Pops 1: Anne Hampton Callaway—To Ella With Love”—Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium and Oct. 5, 2:30 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium

“Pops II: Holiday Pops—Home for the Holidays”—Dec. 13, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium; Dec. 14, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., Sinclair Auditorium; and Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m., West High School

“Pops III: Jeans ‘n Classics—Music of the Eagles”—dates and locations TBA