MUSCATINE, Iowa – Muscatine Symphony Orchestra conductor Brian Dollinger enjoys making music with his friends.

That’s why there was no question about whether to invite French hornist and former fellow member of the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra,  Kelly Langenberg,  to play with Dollinger’s orchestra.

Langenberg, a 30-year-old New Philadelphia, Ohio native, will perform as the featured guest soloist with the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, Oct. 3. 

“This is our second collaboration as far as a solo,” Langenberg said of Dollinger.

Langenberg said she’d worked with him in the past, as a member of the French horn section, but standing out alone will be much different than sitting in the sea of other performers.

“Brian asked me and I turned him down at first,” she said. “I was too nervous. Then I decided, ‘You know what? I should seize this opportunity.’”

Now only days away, Langen-berg is anxious to perform, but excited for the music. The piece she will perform is “Horn Concerto No. 1,” written by composer Richard Strauss when he  was  19.

“The ‘Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1’ is likely the most popular solo for horn,” Langenberg said. “It has essentially set the modern standard for horn performance.”

Dollinger said Langenberg is a bold mix of “beauty and talent.”

“She’s a wonderful, wonderful talent,” he said. “She’s been playing in major music performances.”

Langenberg graduated from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory in Berea, Ohio, with a bachelor’s of music education and a bachelor’s of music; and with a master’s degree in horn performance from De Paul University in Chicago.

She is an applied music faculty member at North Park University in Chicago and performed recently with the Cleveland Orchestra. She is a principle horn player for the Battle Creek Symphony in Battle Creek, Mich.

“This solo is my most beloved solo for horn and orchestra,” Langenberg said. The three movements of Strauss’ piece each tell a different story, she said.

Dollinger hopes bringing Langenberg and other guests to the stage this season will open up doors for him to experiment with lesser-known works by master composers. “The symphony’s really jumped on that,” he said.

In April, Dubuque resident and composer Tracy Rush’s work centering around the Oscar Grossheim photography collection at Musser Public Library will be performed by the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra.

“Composers tell stories or want you to think,” Dollinger said. “I’ve been looking for pieces the orchestra can really sink their teeth into.”

In the meantime, Dollinger hopes that with the increased number of concerts and guest performers, people will open themselves up to symphony performances. “Symphony concerts are not just for the elite,” Dollinger said. “Everyone can come to our concerts.”

Details

What: Muscatine Symphony Orchestra concert

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3

Where: Central Middle School Auditorium, 901 Cedar St.

Admission: Adults - $12, seniors - $10,   students 18 and younger, free