STAGE AND CONCERT REVIEWS

 

 

“Orchestra’s new conductor brings echoes of great performances.

 

One of the great pleasures of a music critic is hearing a fine orchestra such as the Wheaton Symphony Orchestra really deliver a performance that is dripping with precision, heart and passion.”

 

Jim Edwards
The Beacon News (Aurora, IL)

 

“So much about this production is great.  The music is nearly spotless

(kudos to conductor Kevin McMahon and the pit orchestra)…”

 

Jeremy Harrell
Isthmus (Madison, WI)
The Secret Garden

 

“ ‘Capriccio Espagnol,’ by Rimsky Korsakov…romped joyously through the orchestra’s sections…

It was conducted effortlessly by Kevin McMahon.”

 

Jay Rath
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
UW Symphony Orchestra

 

“…a nice blend of instruments and voices…”

 

Robert Marsh
Chicago Sun-Times
Madama Butterfly

 

“The American idiom comes as naturally to these players as breathing, and one could not have hoped to hear Barber’s silken phrases more handsomely spun…the essential framework McMahon established was eminently appropriate and effective.  Thus the performance was full of the heady atmosphere suggested by the text, which describes the smells and sights and sounds of a summer evening in Knoxville.”

 

Howard Reich
Chicago Tribune
Knoxville: Summer of 1915

  

 

“…the result is an evening of entertainment that can hardly be beat…”

 

Robert Rhein
South Bend Tribune (IN)
The Barber of Seville

 

“The concert can best be described as an astonishing display of musicianship and stage presence.”

 

Deirdre Coakley
Gadsden Times (AL)
Etowah Youth Symphony
side by side with the Northwest Indiana Youth Orchestra

 

 

“The Kalamazoo College Orchestra, under the direction of Kevin McMahon,

took its audience on quite an enjoyable trip.” 

 

“…enthusiasm and flashes of truly inspired playing…”

 

“…(the orchestra) know how to play off one another and off the various motifs in the piece…”

 

Diana Dickerson
Kalamazoo Gazette (MI)
Kalamazoo College/Community Orchestra

 

 

“Kevin McMahon and the orchestra responded with musicianship as good as it gets.  McMahon…coaxed more subtlety out of his players that would ordinarily be expected.  McMahon has good instincts for holding the attention of his listeners through musical flow and variety and contrast.”

 

Walter Skiba
The Times (Hammond, IN)
Northwest Indiana Symphony