by Graeme Stevenson
After weeks of rehearsing the Operatic Society’s (OpSoc) annual show takes place in the Bonar Hall from 30 April to 3 May. This year they celebrate their 40th Anniversary with the American favourite "Bye Bye Birdie", a musical comedy with plenty of toe-tapping numbers and rock ‘n’ roll. It is set in the USA in the 1950s, loosely based on Elvis’ entry into the army and has everything you would expect from screaming teenagers to grumpy fathers and of course the teen idol Conrad Birdie himself.
Although not so well known here, the show is huge in the US and contains some well known numbers such as "Put on a Happy Face" and "Kids" (parodied in an episode of the cartoon series "The Simpsons").
If you are a regular to OpSoc shows you can be assured this one will live up to the expectations set by the previous thirty-nine, but if you’ve never been before do go along and see what you’ve been missing, it is sure to be a great nights entertainment and a must for all fans of the 1950’s and rock ‘n’ roll. The show starts at 7.30pm each night with tickets will be available on the door, reservations and enquiries can be made on 01382 817534.
The final evening concert in the 2002 - 03 series takes place in the Bonar Hall on the 6 May and features the pianist Young-Choon Park. Miss Park, who is currently recording the complete Mozart piano concertos, began studying piano at the age of four and gave her first full recital when she was seven.
She played the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10. She studied at the Juilliard School in New York and later gained a Masters degree at the Hochschule in Munich. Her recital will comprise of three sonatas: two by Beethoven, including "The Tempest" and Schubert’s great a minor sonata.
Music Society is now on hiatus after a busy and successful year which included 2 well-received evening concerts. They’ve earned some of their best reviews and hopefully this will be built upon next year. As always, for up-to-date information on musical activities in the University, visit any of the various music websites: www.dundee.ac.uk/music