Garland Symphony Orchestra will wrap up its 2017-2018 “Vienna, City of Music!” May 11 at 8 p.m. at the Granville Arts Center, Brownlee Auditorium in Garland. McDonald will perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2. Since his orchestral debut at age 11, Dallas-local pianist Alex McDonald has soloed with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, among others.
He has performed across the United States as well as in Israel, Mexico, Canada, Japan and South Korea; additionally, he has been a featured performer on PBS, WRR, NPR and WQXR. Awards and fellowships include second prize at the 2007 New Orleans International Piano Competition and second prize at the 2001 Gina Bachauer International Young Artist Piano Competition. In 2008, he was named a Harvey Fellow by the Mustard Seed Foundation. In 2013, he was a participant in the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition.
Active as a chamber musician, McDonald is now the festival director for the chamber music summer series Basically Beethoven in Dallas. His recent program “Music for Animals” was hailed by Theater Jones as one of its “Concerts of the Year” for 2016.
McDonald has taught at Texas Woman’s University, Richland College, as well as at the Juilliard School, where he also was a teaching fellow for the Literature and Materials and Piano Minor departments. Additionally, his private piano students have been admitted to Juilliard and Eastman and have performed at Carnegie’s Weill Hall and on WRR. Deeply concerned about a healthy integration of life with music, he has actively pursued community formation both as an R.A. in the Juilliard residence hall and as president of Juilliard Christian Fellowship.
The pianist received his pre-college training under Lois Nielson, his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance under Russell Sherman and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Juilliard under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin. His doctoral document, a source study on manuscripts and editions for Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, has been cited in the most recent edition of the sonata by Alfred Publishers, edited by Nancy Bricard.
The program also includes Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Schubert’s tragically beautiful Symphony No. 4 in C Minor.
Garland Symphony Orchestra credits its music director, Robert Carter Austin, for its continued outstanding and diverse orchestral programming. Maestro Austin’s background encompasses over 30 years of professional music experience and includes degrees from MIT, Cambridge University and Stanford University. His musical experience includes conducting performances in many countries including: Korea, Ukraine, Canada, Italy, Spain, China, France, Germany, Mexico, Philippines, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and the United States.
Tickets are priced at $17.50, $27.50, and $37.50 and available by calling 972-926-0611, facing 972-926-0811 or emailing info@garlandsymphony.org. Group discounts are available; call 972-926-0611 for more information.
The Granville Arts Center, Brownlee Auditorium is at 300 North Fifth Street in downtown Garland.