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FREE CONCERT!!! Elmhurst Philharmonic Orchestra

ELMHURST   PHILHARMONIC  ORCHESTRA  

SPRING  CONCERT  -   FREE !    FREE!

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Elmhurst College and Community present

ELMHURST PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA SPRING CONCERT

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 Joanne May, conductor. 

Featuring  Concerto Competition  Winners  Matt Beck, Amy Belluomini, Dan Ricci, Sam Simpson, Tom Zimny  and  student conductor, Tim Janiszewski.

Sunday  May 4th   3:00pm

Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel, Elmhurst College

190 S. Prospect Avenue, Elmhurst, Illinois

Join us as we celebrate springtime with glorious music that is sure to stir your soul.

Come, fill your heart with music written by some of the world’s greatest composers.

This event – a complete program with full orchestra and award-winning soloists, is FREE and open to the public for everyone to enjoy.

The Elmhurst Philharmonic Orchestra Spring Concert, Sunday May 4th at 3:00pm, will include the following selections:

Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppe
 

Concerto in Eb Major for 2 Clarinets and Orchestra, Op. 91   by Franz Krommer

 

Capriccio Espagnol  by Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov

Marche Militaire Francaise  by Camille Saint-Saens

Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra -  Fourth Movement 

       by Philip Glass

 

Danzas Cubanas  by Robert Sheldon

 

 PROGRAM  NOTES:

 Light Cavalry Overture ………………Franz von Suppé

 What better way to open the concert than with a lively, galloping overture?. The opening trumpet call of the Overture is very majestic, and soon transitions to the “cavalry” theme to imitate horses cantering. As one of the most recognizable themes in orchestral literature, the Overture has been used as a backdrop in many films and cartoons. 

 

Concerto in Eb Major for 2 Clarinets and Orchestra, Op. 91

 I. Allegro                      Franz Krommer

Soloists:  Amy Belluomini & Matthew Beck, Bb clarinets

 Franz Krommer was born in Czechoslavakia in 1759. Along with Franz Joseph Haydn, Krommer was regarded as a leading composer of String Quartets and a serious rival to Ludwig van Beethoven. The Clarinet Concerto in E flat major, Op 91. is unusual in that the clarinets begin with the orchestra for a brief introduction of the main theme (where typically there would be a long orchestral introduction), which is followed by a developmental section for orchestra alone before the clarinets present the exposition. Krommer’s solo and duet wind works are now considered the most unique of all of his accomplishments, following in the classical style of Haydn and Mozart.

 

Capriccio Espagnol, Op.         …….. Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

             I.             Alborada (“Morning Song”)

             II.            Variazioni (“Variations”)

             III.          Alborada (“Morning Song”)

             IV.          Scena e canto Gitano (“The Gypsy Song”)

             V.           Fandango asturiano (“Dance of Asturias”)

 Capriccio Espagnol, or “Spanish Caprice,” was written in 1887. Rimsky-Korsakov’s inspiration for this orchestral work derived from Spanish folk songs. The Capriccio opens with a brief “Alborada,” or “Morning Song,” which creates a lively, almost parade-like atmosphere, before a short, ethereal cadenza for the solo violin. Over the slow, regular movement of the strings, French horns sound the theme that becomes the basis of the  “Variazioni” second movement, in which the melody is elaborated on by the strings, English horn and other winds, and then more passionately by the strings and the rest of the orchestra. A short reprise of the “Alborada” follows, this time with a different arrangement and violin solo. A drum roll, a fanfare for the brass, and a cadenza for the violin introduce the fourth movement, “Scene and Gypsy Song.” Drums and pizzicato strings (said to be imitating the strumming of guitars) take up the rhythm as other instruments – flute, clarinet, oboe, and harp – take their solo turns. The “Gypsy Song,” a passionate dance in triple time, then takes over, leading without pause into the fiery concluding “Fandango Asturiano.” Propelled by cymbals and castanets, this movement brilliantly shows off the resources of the orchestra, and a high-speed return of the “Alborada” theme brings the Capriccio to an exciting close.

 

Marche Militaire Francaise, from “Suite Algerienne,” Op. 60 

       ……. Camille Saint-Saëns

Tim Janiszewski, student conductor

Camille Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy, composing his first piece for piano at the age of three and entering the Paris Conservatory at age 13. March Militaire Française is the finale movement of a four-movement symphonic poem, Suite Algérienne, Opus 60, that was inspired by Saint-Saëns’s trips to Algeria, then a French colony on the continent of Africa. Although no authentic Algerian music exists in this piece, Saint-Saëns used melodic tendencies of the native Algerian culture. The last movement, Marche Militaire Française, has become famous as an orchestral favorite and as a French concert march for the wind ensemble and concert band.

 Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra........ Philip Glass

                   4th movement

Soloists: Matthew Beck, soprano saxophone; Samuel Simpson, alto saxophone

Daniel Ricci, tenor saxophone; Thomas Zimny, baritone saxophone

Born in Baltimore on January 31, 1937, Philip Glass discovered music in his father's radio repair shop. Glass began the violin at six and became serious about music when he took up the flute at eight. He attended the University of Chicago, where he majored in mathematics and philosophy. At 19, Glass graduated from the University of Chicago, and, determined to become a composer, he moved to New York and began his studies at the Juilliard School. In the late 1980’s, Philip Glass began to compose for standard orchestral forces on the concert platform. This Concerto was written at the request of and for the Rascher Saxophone Quartet from Germany. The American premiére was in Sacramento, California on November 3, 1995.

Multiple time signatures, changing bar by bar, proliferate in the final movement. With its jaunty, syncopated rising theme, jazzy and insistent, and with distinctive percussion coloring, the music dances on, amidst swirling accompaniment. A descending passage for the four soloists marks the half-way point, but the pace never slackens, as orchestra and soloists are kept on their toes, rushing headlong to the climax in a sudden final flourish.

 

Danzas Cubanas................. Robert Sheldon

Danzas Cubanas is a set of three original dance-like movements celebrating the joy and energy of Afro-Cuban music. The opening conga sets the mood, followed by a gentle and alluring son-salsa. The closing dance is a fast-paced mambo.  An excellent multi-cultural music experience, the three interconnected dances feature solos for piano, trombone, flute, and trumpet, and offer a great way to end our concert, sure to bring you to your feet!

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About the conductor…

Joanne May is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois where she is chair of the string department, is conductor of the Elmhurst Philharmonic Orchestra and supervises student teachers. She taught 33 years in the public schools in Illinois, teaching all levels of orchestra, general music, and band, and serving as Music Department Chair and Orchestra Director at Glenbard East High School in suburban Lombard. She is often invited to be a guest conductor and clinician for workshops and festivals throughout the country.

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Click here for directions to Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL : http://public.elmhurst.edu/calendar/1260852.html

Click here for a map of the campus : http://public.elmhurst.edu/about/location/113234904.htmlcampus 

Any questions?  Please contact JoAnne Kremske

    phone:   630 617-3515

    e-mail:    joannek@elmhurst.edu

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 Hope to see you there.     It will be a  WONDERFUL  event for all.    

 It’s FREE!     >>>   Parking is  FREE  too !  

 Please come join us as we celebrate springtime with beautiful music.


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