Takeda memorial concert features Mozart Requiem
March 6, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- The WMU School of Music will present a special concert in memory of Yoshimi Takeda, who served for 25 years as music director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. The concert is free and begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, in Miller Auditorium.
The University Symphony Orchestra and Grand Chorus will perform Mozart's Requiem Mass. Featured soloists will be soprano Michelle Milliken, a WMU graduate student from Marshall, Mich., faculty members Linda Trotter (alto) and David Little (baritone), and guest tenor soloist Matthew Lehmann from Grand Rapids, Mich.
Under the direction of conductor Bruce Uchimura, the University Symphony Orchestra will also perform Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony.
Internationally praised, Maestro Yoshimi Takeda (1933-2000) was described as a "superlative conductor," possessing "flawless technique." He began his long service as music director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra in 1974 and was named "Music Director Laureate" in 1999.
Western Michigan University awarded Takeda an honorary Doctor of Music degree in 1989 in appreciation of his outstanding cultural contributions to the university and the community. He later served as an artist in residence at WMU, conducting the 1999 School of Music production of Mozart's opera Die Fledermaus.
Media contact: Kevin West, 616 387-4678, kevin.west@wmich.edu