ArtPrize concert to honor Mathias Alten paintings

Members of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra will bring three Mathias Alten paintings to life through an original music composition during a special ArtPrize concert at Grand Valley State University, September 26.

“Mathias Alten Triptych” is a three-movement composition commissioned by GRSO specifically for ArtPrize. Composers Bill Ryan, director of Grand Valley’s New Music Ensemble; Jeremy Crosmer, GRSO assistant principal cellist; and Alexander Miller, GRSO assistant principal oboe, each chose a painting by Alten to musically interpret. The three paintings include “The Grand River,” “Approaching Storm” and “Gulls of Leland.”

Six members of GRSO will perform the composition Saturday, September 26, at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., in Loosemore Auditorium in the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. The composition will be available to ArtPrize visitors throughout the duration of the festival at St. Cecilia's Music Center (24 Ransom Ave. NE) in Grand Rapids.

Grand Valley holds the largest public collection of Alten works in the world at more than 80 pieces, which can be viewed at the George and Barbara Gordon Gallery located in the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

Alten, a celebrated American regionalist artist, painted more than 2,500 works of art throughout his life. He began as a naturalist scene painter and later transitioned into painting in an impressionistic style before his death in 1938.

For more information, contact Grand Valley’s Music and Dance Department at (616) 331-3484. 

To vote for "Mathias Alten Triptych," use the vote code 61158.