Grammy-winning O’Connor to play symphony series

• By ROBIN MILLER
• Advocate News Features staff
• Published: Jun 7, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Roy Acuff was 71 when he introduced Mark O’Connor at the Grand Ole Opry.

So, at 71, Acuff had been a professional fiddle player for at least 40 years. Well, he was more than that — he was already a country music legend by that time.

But he apparently was impressed by O’Connor. No, amazed.

“I have to say that for 12 years old I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anything that can equal him in any way,” Acuff said.

These words would open O’Connor’s first Opry appearance on July 26, 1974. They can be found on O’Connor’s Web site, http://www.markoconnor.com, as are words of praise from former President Bill Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

And after Sunday, June 14, he could, no doubt, be able to add audience comments from Plaquemine to that list.

Now this isn’t saying that he will — there probably wouldn’t be room to include everything that everyone has to say, but he could.

Because O’Connor has a way of dazzling his audiences. The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra normally wouldn’t have pursued him for its Historic Plaquemine Performing Arts Series in St. John Evangelist Catholic Church, where O’Connor will play June 24.

“The series always features world renown artists,” Miriam Overton said.

“Last year, we featured the Canadian Brass and the Vienna Choir Boys the year before that.”

Overton is the symphony’s development and volunteer coordinator. She looks back to previous years, when the symphony tried scheduling O’Connor for other performances.

“Maestro Timothy Muffitt has said Mark O’Connor is someone we’ve been looking at a while, and he negotiated to bring Mark O’Connor here,” Overton said. “The symphony has asked him to come here before, but it’s never worked out. But now he has this fortuitous break in his schedule, and we have this wonderful opportunity to have him here.”

The Plaquemine series is in its third year. Though the performance is sponsored by the symphony, the symphony does not join the featured performers.