Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott joins Amarillo Symphony show

With pianist Anne-Marie McDermott as the guest artist, audiences will not want to miss Amarillo Symphony’s upcoming concert.

Corey Cowart, the symphony’s executive director, described McDermott as one of the most highly regarded pianists in the world.

“(Audiences are) going to hear some of the most great, well-regarded music of all time played by one of today’s greatest artists,” he said.

Conducted by Jacomo Bairos, the two-hour concert will include performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 (“The Clock”), Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 (“Elvira Madigan”), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 along with Rossini’s Overture to “The Barber of Seville.”

Cowart said the concert will appeal to all types of music lovers and will include both traditional classical music as well as more fun, comic pieces.

This will be the first time since the Amarillo Symphony started performing at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts that the symphony will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21. Cowart said the piece’s themes and melodies are very recognizable by audiences.

Many of Haydn’s symphonies have similar sounds, Cowart said, but Symphony No. 101 sticks out because of its unique musical “hooks.”

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 is one of the composer’s shorter works. Cowart said the piece is interesting because although it was written during a distressing time in Beethoven’s life, the sound is happy and fun.

As for Rossini’s Overture to “The Barber of Seville,” Cowart said Rossini is known for composing humorous operas that many modern audiences will recognize from movies, cartoons or even cellphone ringtones.

The executive director said the Amarillo Symphony has grown its audiences by 25 percent in the last year and a half.

“We’re doing really nothing special but putting on great music, so there’s clearly a demand and desire for what our musicians do month after month,” he said. “The fact that that’s happening in the panhandle of Texas — what most of the country might not consider a sophisticated arts audience, which is completely not true. Whether it’s New York, Amarillo, Los Angeles or Lubbock orchestras, there is a demand. People enjoy what we do.”