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Don't miss the Symphony's Whodunnit?! concert at 4pm on Saturday, March 29 at the Rancho Cordova City Hall (2729 Prospect Park Drive; map). The concert will feature The Composer is Dead, a whimsical, whodunnit mystery featuring the instruments of the orchestra, with music by Nathaniel Stookey and with text by Lemony Snicket*. Our narrator/detective Omari Tau will investigate the orchestra, and perhaps you can help him solve the mystery of the dead composer! The concert also will feature guest cellist William Masters performing the Haydn Cello Concerto in D Major. Plus the orchestra will play favorites by Henry Mancini and Louis Armstrong (and other dead composers!). Open seating tickets for this fundraiser concert are $45 and can be purchased here. Don't miss this special event! When you purchase your tickets you for our annual fundraiser concert, you will experience the satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting Symphony d'Oro's mission to provide free concerts for the rest of the year. Purchase tickets for this family-friendly concert here. This performance is open seating--doors open at 3:30 pm. We're very excited about this concert and look forward to seeing you there. This concert is made possible by our sponsors, including the City of Rancho Cordova, Cordova Community Council, Cordova Recreation and Park District, and KP International Market.
* Presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners. |
Image by Carson Ellis |
More about our guest musicians |
| Omari Tau
Omari Tau is a Sacramento native and Co-Founding Artistic Director of Rogue Music Project, Professor of Vocal Music at Cosumnes River College, and member of the band Solabel. His degrees from Michigan State University and the Moores School of Music-University of Houston in Music Education and Vocal Music Performance helped him to feel at home in operatic and musical theatre worlds, as well as in jazz and pop genres. Tau has proven a versatile performing artist, educator, director, and composer.
Tau served as the Director of Opera Theatre at Sacramento State University for six years and directed Houston Grand Opera’s Education and Outreach program Opera To Go! which prepared young professionals and college-level artists for the stage performing in an opera troupe dedicated to young audiences.
As performing artist, the baritone toured internationally with Disney’s The Lion King for nearly nine years, performing the role of they mean and nasty hyena Banzai with both the Cheetah and Gazelle companies. Other credits include roles at the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, the Tony Award-Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, MUNY, Sacramento’s Broadway at Music Circus, and Theater Under The Stars among others. Tau appears on various recordings with Solabel as well as solo work with composer Graham Sobleman.
As a composer himself, Tau’s operas A Night At the Algonquin, Hans in Luck and The Pre-Show Opera Lecture were commissioned and premiered by Lone Star Lyric where they enjoyed successful runs. He composed for Houston Grand Opera’s Education and Outreach program as well as his initiative Lions in the Library which features chamber music accompaniments to readings of children’s books. In 2024, he was honored to arrange music for Disney’s The Lion King 25th Anniversary celebration on the Broadway stage. Photo by Elle Jaye |
| William Masters
Passionate cellist and performer William Masters currently pursues his bachelor's degree in cello performance at the Sacramento State School of Music under Andrew Luchansky. William has a strong desire to create meaningful musical experiences when he performs and strives to evoke emotion in every concert he plays in. He is extremely grateful for his six years of invaluable experience and tutelage in the Sacramento Youth Symphony, where he served as principal cellist for their Classic and Academic orchestra ensembles, and was winner of their 2018 Academic Concerto Competition. William regularly performs with the Auburn Symphony and is assistant principal in the Sacramento State Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, during his studies with Susan Lamb Cook, he was an Honors Award Recipient at the MTAC’s Baroque to the Future Festival, Cello Division Winner/State Finalist in CAPMT’s North State Concerto Competition, and 2nd Prize Winner in the Folsom Lake Symphony’s inaugural Young Artist Competition. Last April, William also had the honor of performing the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Sacramento State Symphony Orchestra as winner of the School of Music’s 2024 Concerto Competition in his freshman year at the university. Outside of music, William enjoys dogs (especially his own Labrador Sam), and his hobbies include reading (classic mystery and fantasy novels in particular), fiction writing, and dabbling interests in baking and surfing. |
