Message from the Conductor

From Russia to America to Norway - hold onto your hats for this world showcase of sound! We have a very exciting program for this concert that will take you on a journey of familiar and maybe not so familiar pieces.  Our program opens with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Procession of the Nobles from the four act opera-ballet, Mlada.  This is a very popular piece in the wind band repertoire, with its brilliant brass fanfares and colorful whirling passages from the winds.Another star of our program is Aaron Copland’s Quiet City for solo trumpet, English horn and strings.  Our principal trumpet player and principal oboe player on English horn will be featured. To close out the first half of our program, we will be playing the first movement of the Piano Concerto in A Minor by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, featuring our Young Artist Competition Winner, Raymond Feng. The first half of our program also includes a string selection, October by Eric Whitacre.The second half of our program consists of two pieces.  The first, Polovtsian Dances, from Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, has lush, beautiful melodies and expansive phrases.  This piece features several members of the orchestra and is not played often in the concert repertoire, creating a new learning opportunity for many orchestra members.  For the finale, we close with an audience favorite, Capriccio Espagnol.  This piece is full of color and virtuosic playing that will be sure to get you on your feet.  We cannot wait to see you for this exciting concert!~ S. Shade Zajac, conductor