Canton Symphony outstanding at NPAC

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Canton Symphony Orchestra filled the stage of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio on Sunday, while the Van Wert County Foundation/Saltzgaber Music Hall was filled with the sounds of Tchaikovsky.

It was a triumphant homecoming for Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann, who brought his 82-member orchestra to Van Wert on Sunday for an afternoon concert that began with the “Polonaise” from Act III of Eugene Onegin. Before the concert, Van Wert Mayor Jerry Mazur honored Zimmermann, a Van Wert native, with a proclamation designating the day “Gerhardt Zimmermann Day”.

The first half of the concert ended with a masterful rendering of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in b-flat minor, with piano soloist Norman Krieger.

Krieger, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School of Music, and currently is a professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, performed the concerto with power and lyricism, while the orchestra’s accompaniment never overpowered the soloist, but enhanced the composition through the partnership of orchestra and soloist.

Following the intermission, the orchestra performed Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in f minor, a composition that requires power, but also sensitivity — both of which the orchestra provided in full measure.

Following a standing ovation, Maestro Zimmerman led the orchestra a encore performance of the “Russian Dance” from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet.

Following the concert, Zimmermann attended a reception held in the First Federal Lecture Hall and met with some of his classmates from Van Wert High School (1963), as well as former choir director Larry Schaufelberger.

He also received a bouquet of flowers and a hug from Van Wert City Board of Education President Debby Compton prior to reminiscing with those who attended the reception.

“I’ll never, never forget those days,” Zimmermann said of his childhood growing up in Van Wert.

Zimmermann, who was pleased to note that the band and choral programs at Van Wert have been maintained — which has not been the case in some parts of the country — said he would be speaking to members of the VWHS band this morning.

“I’ve always been proud of coming from Van Wert, Ohio, and what I’ve been proud of, is the music programs with (band director) Jay Hall and (choir director) Larry Schaufelberger really prepared me for when I went to Bowling Green State University,” Zimmermann said. “Music saved my life; I don’t know what I would have done without music.

“It’s sad for me to hear, in a lot of communities across America where the music programs are being deleted,” he added. “What’s going to happen to the kids like me that will be lost without a music program, without the arts?”