Pianist Marian Lee – head of the keyboard area at St. Ambrose University, Davenport – has found silver linings in the dark cloud of Covid. For just the second time since she’s been in the Quad-Cities, over the past eight years, Lee will be featured soloist with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra this weekend, performing J.S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor (BWV 1056). That wasn’t the original plan. “Because of Covid, I lucked out. The original pianist who was scheduled to perform was a Chinese pianist from Curtis and she was still unable to get back into the United States from... Read More

What a difference an audience makes. Any performer – especially in this dizzying, chaotic age of Covid-19 – knows this. And when Mark Russell Smith, starting his 12th season as music director and conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, took to the Adler Theatre stage Oct. 3 for the first time in seven months – he knew it for sure. “It was moving, very powerful,” he said Thursday of leading a smaller, socially-distanced ensemble, as he wore a face mask. “Even before we played a note, the audience greeted us with a standing ovation. I came out like normal, the orchestra stood up... Read More