For the 20th consecutive year, Decatur says farewell to summer with a free concert on the lakeshore by the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra (MDSO), under the direction of Dr. Sergey Bogza, newly appointed music director and conductor of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Bogza began his full-time position as director two months ago. The Labor Day Concert will be his first opportunity to conduct the MDSO as their director. During his audition in March, he conducted the orchestra with pre-selected music. The opportunity gave him an understanding of the orchestra and a chance to meet a few members of the community.
The hour-long performance will feature upbeat marches, highlights from opera, Viennese waltzes and very happy Russian music.
Dr. Bogza has added elements of both his heritage and his new country, hoping to bring the familiar and unfamiliar to the concert. "Labor Day will be a good piecemeal of what they will hear throughout the season," he said. "We have pop and serious."
An active composer and pianist, Dr. Bogza previously served as the artistic director of the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra in Virginia, Minn., and music director and conductor of the Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra in Willmar, Minn. A native of Taganrog, Russia, he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota, Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Central Washington University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Portland State University.
In addition to his work on the podium, Dr. Bogza is an internationally recognized composer. With over 40 compositions and arrangements, his works have been performed across the U.S. and featured at the New Music Festival in Kazan, Russia.
Dr. Bogza will give the audience the opportunity to participate in what they will hear in future concerts. During the Labor Day Concert program, audience members will be able to list three music pieces in which they would like to hear at the next Labor Day concert. "We as an orchestra give back and establish a relationship," Bogza said. "The Labor Day concert is the perfect place to do this."
Click here to read more about the Labor Day Pops concert in an article from the Herald & Review.