The Cherokee Symphony will be presenting its “Pops” concert on November, 7 at 4PM in the upper level of the Cherokee Community Center. This will be the 66th season of the Cherokee symphony. Ted Hallberg, an educator and cellist from LeMars, will be entering his 9th season as the conductor of the symphony. This concert will also feature a piece of music for one selection under a special conductor, Dr. Luis Vizquez. A native of Costa Rica, Dr. Luis Víquez is the clarinet professor at the University of South Dakota, where he also performs with the South Dakota Chamber Winds and the Viquez/Wadley Duo since he joined the faculty in 2016. He has appeared both as a soloist and in a large variety of chamber music performances at major stages across the United States and Costa Rica, as well as in Taiwan, Guatemala, England, Honduras, Colombia and Panama.
Prior to coming to the United States, Luis Víquez served in the faculty at the University of Costa Rica, and also taught instrumental music at the Municipal Schools of Music of Cartago and Paraíso. He has also performed as a clarinetist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and as a founding member of the Cartago Municipal Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his performing and teaching activities as a clarinetist, Dr. Víquez enjoys an internationally recognized career as an orchestral, opera, and wind band conductor and also serves as the Director of Orchestras at USD, where he oversees the entire orchestral area, in addition to the graduate program in orchestral conducting and the clarinet studio.