Lee University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of artist-in-residence Robert Bernhardt, will present its first concert of the spring season on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conn Center. The concert will open with soloist winners from Lee’s first Student Concerto Competition.

The five student winners are RuoBing Zhang, first place; Cindy Lo, second place; Jordan Robson, third place; Marquis Clever, fourth place; and Chris Oglesby, honorable mention.

Zhang will perform Saint-Saens’s Piano Concerto No. 2, first movement; Lo’s selection will be Rachmanioff’s Piano Concert No. 2, third movement; Robson will present Weber’s Concertino for Clarinet; Clever will perform “Deh vieni, non tardar” from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro; and Oglesby will sing “Bella siccome un angelo” from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. The symphony will accompany each soloist performance.

Following, the symphony will present Ottorino Respighi’s The Pines of Rome, a delightful and dramatic four-movement piece. First performed in 1924, each movement represents a different stand of pine trees in and around the city of Rome.

At the end of the third movement, Respighi requested that a recording of Nightingale be played as the nocturnal sounds fade, becoming the first electronic recording in symphonic music to accompany a composition.

The final movement, the “Pines of the Appian Way,” ends with one of the most triumphant and thrilling conclusions in symphonic repertoire.

Maestro Bernhardt accepted an appointment as artist-in-residence in Lee’s School of Music in 2011 and serves as the conductor of the Lee University Symphony Orchestra. For the past 19 years, Bernhardt was the music director and conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera where he now serves as the conductor emeritus.

A conductor of great versatility, Bernhardt has led many fully-staged operas, operettas, and ballets. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1978, and has recorded for Vanguard, First Edition, Carlton Classics, and RPO record labels.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the School of Music at 423-614-8240 or email [email protected].