MUSIC Forum at canaaninstitute.org

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2008 Winter Concert

Sunday, December 7th 4 pm at First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca

The Ithaca Community Orchestra (ICO) will bring 2008 to a close with the grace, joy, and passion that can only come from a group of musicians performing for the pure beauty of the piece. On Sunday, December 7th, don’t miss the ICO’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave Overture “Die Hebriden,” Op.26, Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto in F Major, Op. 102, and Schubert’s Sixth Symphony in C Major, D 589. The featured soloist for this year’s concert is Cornell professor and pianist Graeme Bailey, a performer with an overwhelming array of classical music experience. Cayenna Ponchione will lead the ICO as music director, with help from assistant conductor Bryan Lilley. The performance, funded in part by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, will take place at the First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca on Dec. 7th at 4pm. As always, this Ithaca Community Orchestra event is free and open to the
public, but donations are welcome.

Cornell professor Graeme Bailey was born and raised in England, where he studied, taught and researched in many different areas of the Mathematics field before moving to the Ithaca area in 1986. His musical talent earned him a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, during which he studied piano/harpsichord and cello under Antonio Butler and Millicent Silver. But despite becoming a concert artist touring Britain and Scandinavia, his interest in science took the upper hand. As he explained to Cornell Chronicle reporter Bill Steele, ‘I felt if I went in a science direction I could actually make a difference. I was rather naïve at 19, 20 years old, thinking that musicians were merely entertaining.’ This career choice lead professor Bailey into what some would call a double life, by balancing being a mathematician with lunchtime concerts in London and performances on BBC Television. Today Dr. Bailey works at Cornell as a Professor of Computer
Science, while also serving as a member of the Faculty Committee on Music. In addition, since moving to the Ithaca area, he has earned a local reputation for accompanying students and faculty in various performances at both Ithaca College and Cornell.

Marc Bryan Lilley, assistant conductor for the ICO, is a new addition to the group for the 2008 winter season. Just this past spring Lilley received his Masters in Music in conducting from Ithaca College. While pursuing his masters degree, Lilley served as the graduate assistant for the Opera program, accompanying all production rehearsals and workshops, as well as working as a coach and chorus master. Lilley currently works as a staff accompanist for Ithaca College, while also serving as the music director at the First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses in Trumansburg, New York.

Cayenna Ponchione, the Ithaca Community Orchestra’s musical leader, received two Masters degrees from Ithaca College’s School of Music in 2004 for instrumental conducting and percussion performance. Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Ponchione has made her home in Alpine, New York, where she avidly pursues her music career as a conductor, composer, and percussionist. She currently serves as music director for the Binghamton Community Orchestra, the Ithaca Community Orchestra, and the GrassRoots Festival Chamber Orchestra. Her percussion compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Brazil and Costa Rica. Her percussion ensemble work “The Creation” won the 2003 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest. Ponchione also serves as secretary for the Zeltsman Marimba Festival and as director of the Finger Lakes Community Orchestra Festival.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. Now in its eighth season, the ICO is committed to presenting concerts for the general public, which include appearances at community events and festivals as well as performances at local residential institutions.[/img]
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2009 Spring Concert for Families and Children

Sunday, May 3rd at 4:00 pm at the First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park, downtown Ithaca

On Sunday, May 3rd, the Ithaca Community Orchestra (ICO) will be celebrating the arrival of Spring with a children's concert at 4pm at the First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park, downtown Ithaca. The concert will showcase Raya Lee Then’s “Fiddler Crabs,” a musical story about friendship between two young crabs. Then will narrate her story to Johann Sebastion Bach’s music, including portions of the Concerto for Violin in E Major and Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor. The violin soloists, who represent the two crab children, will be local and nationally known violinists Judy Hyman and Laurie Hart. The ICO will also perform Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer's Apprentice and selections from Charles Gounod's Petite Symphonie.



For this event the ICO will be collaborating with the Family Reading Partnership of Tompkins County and the Tompkins County Public Library. Cal Walker, on behalf of the Family Reading Partnership, will kick off the program with his narration of Karla Kuskin’s The Philharmonic Gets Dressed. The story, combined with a power-point presentation of Marc Simnot’s illustrations, creatively details how musicians prepare for a performance . After the concert, The Bright Red Bookshelf will be collecting gently used children’s books to give to families who want them.

Raya Lee Then, the author of “Fiddler Crabs,” has written and narrated musical stories for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s youth concerts, including “The Magic of Mozart,” “Dora's Dream” and, most recently, “Erie Canal.” A writer and lecturer about music who has a private piano studio, she has been assistant librarian for the Buffalo Philharmonic. Judy Hyman is a founding member of the Ithaca area alternative rock band The Horse Flies and has recorded and toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, and Europe with both The Horse Flies and the pop singer Natalie Merchant. She has performed with orchestras and string quartets, composes music for film, and teaches. Classically trained, Laurie Hart is also a fiddler who specializes in Irish, Scandinavian, French, and American dance music. She performs across the U.S. and Canada at contra-dances, concerts, weddings, festivals and dance weekends and has taught at Ashokan Northern Week,
Ithaca College, and Suzuki institutes.

The Family Reading Partnership of Tompkins County is a non-profit community organization made up of caring individuals and groups that have joined forces to “create a culture of literacy” throughout the Ithaca area. The organization strives to publicize the fact that the ability to read, write, and communicate clearly will define a child's future success in life.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. Now in its eighth season, the ICO is committed to presenting concerts for the general public, which include appearances at community events and festivals, as well as performances at local residential institutions.

The ICO’s music director, Cayenna Ponchione, will lead the Orchestra with help from Bryan Lilley, assistant Conductor. The concert is made possible with a generous donation from The Sorel Organization, as well as with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. As always, this ICO event is free and open to the public, but donations will be very gratefully accepted. For more information, please call 607-592-8374 or email publicity@ithacacommunityorchestra.org.

==
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

You know Laurie Hart and Judy Hyman as northern and southern fiddlers, respectively. Now you can hear them together playing a tradition they have in common from way back when: baroque violin music, with a fun twist.

On Apr 29, May 3, May 6, you have three chances to hear the show:

Ithaca Community Orchestra Spring Children's Concert, all ages welcome.
Featuring author/narrator Raya Lee Then, violinists Judy Hyman and Laurie Hart, and music director Cayenna Ponchione

The Fiddler Crabs, a charming story entwined with exerpts of J.S. Bach's E major concerto, E major partita, and D minor double concerto,
PLUS a little fiddling surprise by Laurie and Judy, as well as Gounod's Petite Symphonie and Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice (yep, the one from Fantasia).

Sunday, May 3, 4:00 p.m., First Baptist Church, Dewitt Park, Ithaca NY, reception to follow.

Wednesday, May 6, 6:00 pm, Tompkins County Public Library, Ithaca NY

Also there is an open rehearsal at Lakeside Nursing home on Rt. 96 in Ithaca on Weds. April 29 at 7:30pm if you can't make the other performances.

Definitely May 3 will be the most exciting, with some extra personnel including the dynamic harpsichordist Dorian Bandy. We did some coaching in baroque performance practice with Cornell emeritus professor Sonya Monosoff, and between that and our fiddle backgrounds, you may be surprised by our approach!

Hope to see you there.

Newsflash: Judy and Laurie will play the entire Bach Double Concerto (without the story) at the Grassroots Festival Sunday morning July 19 with GrassRoots Orchestra as well!

==
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra Fall Concert
Saturday, December 12th -- 4 pm First Baptist Church on Dewitt Park in Ithaca


On Saturday, December 12th, take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season with an afternoon of lovely and lively music performed by the Ithaca Community Orchestra (ICO). This year's fall concert will happen at 4pm at the First Baptist Church on Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca. The program features a piano solo – as part of the ICO’s performance of Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D - by Cornell professor Graeme Bailey, a musician with a wide array of classical music experience. The ICO will also perform Handel’s Water Music as well as Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin and Pavane pour une infante defunte. Be sure to stick around for the reception following the concert, where there will be plenty of tasty homemade treats and good company, along with a chance to meet the many talented musicians of the ICO.

Cornell professor Graeme Bailey was born and raised in England, where he studied, taught and researched in many different areas of the Mathematics field before moving to the Ithaca area in 1986. His musical talent earned him a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, during which he studied piano/harpsichord and cello under Antonio Butler and Millicent Silver. But despite becoming a concert artist touring both Britain and Scandinavia, his interest in science took the upper hand. As he explained to Cornell Chronicle reporter Bill Steele, ‘I felt if I went in a science direction I could actually make a difference. I was rather naïve at 19, 20 years old, thinking that musicians were merely entertaining.’ This career choice led Professor Bailey into what some would call a double life, by balancing being a mathematician with lunchtime concerts in London and performances on BBC Television. Today Dr. Bailey works at Cornell as a Professor of
Computer Science, while also serving as a member of the Faculty Committee on Music. Since moving to the Ithaca area, he has earned a local reputation for accompanying students and faculty in various performances at both Ithaca College and Cornell.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. Now in its eighth season, the ICO is committed to presenting concerts for the general public, which include appearances at community events and festivals, as well as performances at local residential institutions.

The ICO’s music director, Cayenna Ponchione, will lead the orchestra with help from Diana Geiger, assistant conductor. The concert is made possible with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. As always, this ICO event is free and open to the public, but donations will be very gratefully accepted. For more information, please call 607-592-8374 or email publicity@ithacacommunityorchestra.org.

==
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2010 Spring Concert “Words of Sound”
Sunday, May 9th 4 pm at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, downtown Ithaca

On Sunday, May 9, the Ithaca Community Orchestra (ICO) will present its spring concert entitled “Words of Sound,” a program highlighting the powerful combination of music and literature. As the culminating event of the 2010 Finger Lakes Literary Festival, this year’s concert includes three pieces created to explore the themes of three different poems. Ithaca area poets and composers, as well as both vocal and instrumental soloists, chorus, and orchestra, will be featured. This event will happen at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 4pm in Ithaca, New York, and was funded with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. As always, admission to ICO events is free and open to the public. There is a suggested donation of $5 for adults.



Local composer Zachery Wadsworth has written a composition especially for a poem by Amy Li that won the Ithaca High School Poetry Competition. Tom Schneller, also a local composer, has composed music for a poem by Jay Leeming, Tompkins County’s Poet Laureate. These works will be performed by soprano Judith Kellock and the ICO. Li’s poem “Green Knolls” is a moving, insightful piece about young girls taking advantage of their slow childhood summertime to “ponder life and lie upon green knolls,” before womanhood finds them. Leeming’s poem “Afterlife” provides a unique vision into the mystery of life after death. Leeming, in the "Afterlife," describes all deceased souls, "flickering together...beyond the world."

Both Blaise Bryski, piano soloist, and the Ithaca Community Chorus are featured in the ICO’s performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in C, Op. 80. First performed at the famous Akademie (benefit concert) on December 22, 1808, Choral Fantasy was written by Beethoven as a “brilliant finale” that would unite, in a single piece, the performances of the orchestra, chorus, and piano soloist. Beethoven asked the poet Christoph Kuffner to write the chorus verses, which nicely tie together Choral Fantasy’s theme of the universal meeting of the arts. At one point in the piece, the chorus proclaims, “When the magic sounds reign and the sacred word is spoken, magnificence takes form, [and] the night and the tempest turn to light…art, and the spring sun floods them, and the others, with light.”

Cayenna Ponchione, Music Director, will lead the Ithaca Community Orchestra for this concert with help from Diana Geiger, assistant conductor. For more information on this concert, please call 607-592-8374 or email publicity@ithacacommunityorchestra.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Zachary Wadsworth's music has been praised for its "evocative mixture of old and new." His music has received several awards, including a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, three ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards, and first prizes in the ASCAP / Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition, the first Long Leaf Opera One Act Opera Competition, the Chamber Music Rochester Young Composer Competition, the Boston Choral Ensemble Commission Competition, and the Pacific Chorale Young Composer Competition. Tom Schneller, who has studied in both the U.S. and Great Britain, holds a doctorate in composition from Cornell University. Schneller has composed numerous orchestral, chamber and solo works, which are marked by an expressive and evocative musical language that often derives inspiration from literary or visual sources.

Judith Kellock, who currently serves on the performing faculty at Cornell University, has been a featured soloist for orchestras and operas throughout the New England area, as well as various parts of eastern and western Europe. Highly acclaimed for her recitals and chamber music performances, Kellock has been described in the press as, “a singer of rare intelligence and vocal splendor, with a voice of indescribable beauty.” Blaise Bryski worked as a professional pianist in Los Angeles before attending Cornell University to finish a doctorate in eighteenth-century performance practice. His credits include the New York Concert Singers, the Nakamichi Baroque Festival, and the Cincinnati Symphony.

Founded in 1976 by Paul Gibbons and directed by Gerald Wolfe since 1990, the Ithaca Community Chorus has grown to include well over 100 participants. Composed of students and residents from around the Tompkins County area, the Chorus membership is diverse, finding commonality in dedication to learning and performing history's best choral offerings.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. Now in its ninth season, the ICO is committed to presenting concerts for the general public, which include appearances at community events and festivals, as well as performances at local residential institutions.

###
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2010 Winter Concert
Saturday, December 11, 2010 4 pm First Baptist Church of Ithaca, DeWitt Park

ITHACA NY -- On December 11, the Ithaca Community Orchestra will present its Annual Winter Concert. The orchestra will premiere a commissioned piece by local composer Mer Boel, as well as perform works by Elgar, Saint-Säens, and Brahms. The concert begins at 4 pm and will be held at the First Baptist Church of Ithaca on DeWitt Park . The concert and reception that follows are open to the general public. There is a $5 suggested donation for adults. Funding for this concert is provided with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.

The ICO is showcasing some of its talented members in this concert. Bassoonist David Resig will play Saint-Säens “Sonate pour Bassoon et Piano”, arranged for chamber orchestra accompaniment by Music Director Cayenna Ponchione. Ms. Ponchione says, “the sonata skillfully expresses the wide ranging capabilities of the bassoon and showcases a fine bassoonist in a flattering and beautiful way. By orchestrating the piano part for chamber orchestra, the opportunities for hearing this wonderful piece have opened up, creating a welcome addition to the bassoon concerto repertoire.”

Mer Boel’s “Celebration of the Deep” is a concerto for four horns. Members of ICO horn section which includes Maureen Bolton, Barry Chester, Anna Cook, Lars Washburn, Neil Washburn, and Karen Wickert will be featured in this unique musical work. Ms. Boel tries to convey a sense of personal meditation in her piece. She says, “The practice of meditations is a sort of inner journey from the absolute of the universe that is unchanging, to the world of the relative with all its turbulence and joy, and then back again, with an enriched inner world from participating in the outer world.” Movements from Elgar’s Serenade, op.20 and Brahms’ Serenade No.2 op.16, will complete the one hour program.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. In addition to its December 11 concert for the public, the ICO will present concerts at the Cayuga Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and the Franziska Racker Centers during the holiday season. On January 20, they will collaborate with Boynton Middle School in a “Side-by-Side” concert to be held at Kulp Auditorium. The ICO will share the stage with the Boynton orchestra and the concert will feature an encore performance of “Celebration of the Deep.”

Cayenna Ponchione, Music Director, will lead the Ithaca Community Orchestra for this concert along with Diana Geiger, assistant conductor. For more information on ICO and future concerts, please call 607-592-8374 or email:publicity@ithacacommunityorchestra.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

David Resig is a native of Central NY . He studied bassoon with Tim Emerson, Greg Quick, and Lee Goodhew. He earned his Bachelors of Music at the Ithaca College School of Music. Mr. Resig is currently a member of the Ithaca Community Orchestra, Ithaca Community Orchestra Woodwind Quintet, and The Grassroots Festival Orchestra. He is also one of the founding members of BRIAN!, an experimental duo incorporating amplified bassoon, guitar, bass, electronics, and vocals. BRIAN! developed as a collaboration in the spirit of Rock in Opposition, fusing elements of classical, math rock, modern progressive rock, and punk He supports his music habit as a Service Coordinator with the Franziska Racker Centers.

Mer Boel is a composer, violinist and vocalist who grew up in Oneonta , NY . Her BFA is from City College in NYC and she holds an MS in System Science from Binghamton University . She has received commissions from such places as the Kitchen Theatre, Women’s Works, the New Directions Cello Festival and the Village of Trumansburg , as well as awards from ASCAPlus and Meet the Composer. The Grassroots Festival Chamber Orchestra has featured her dynamic Name Music pieces, and she has spoken at the International Festival of Women’s Composers and led workshops at the New Directions Cello Festival. The Ithaca Community Orchestra previously played two of Ms. Boel’s compositions for string orchestra: “Justin” and “Ann.”

==
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2011
Spring Concert “The Pictures Project”

Saturday, May 14, 2011 7 pm First Baptist Church of Ithaca, DeWitt Park

The Ithaca Community Orchestra will present its spring concert on Saturday, May 14 at the First Baptist Church on DeWitt Park in downtown Ithaca. This program, “The Pictures Project,” unites the vibrant visual and musical artistic communities in Ithaca. The orchestra will perform Tushmalov’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” with special guest Christopher Morgan Loy on the organ, and original compositions from local composers inspired by works of local visual artists. Leah Kaller and Claude Lamothe will also perform Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor. The concert will begin at 7 pm with a reception to follow. There is a suggested $5 donation at the door.

The “Pictures Project”, which has been developed over the past year, demonstrates how art responds to music and music responds to art. Mussorgsky was inspired to write “Pictures at an Exhibition” after he visited a showing of Viktor Hartmann’s works at The Hall of the Academy of Artists in St Petersburg, Russia. The ICO has taken this concept and set it in a local framework. They asked four composers to select artworks at local galleries and write pieces in response to these. These works will be interspersed with movements of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures” at the May 14th concert. Katherine Free, a local visual artist created a work of art after listening to the Vivaldi. In addition, ICO Music Director Cayenna Ponchione traveled to Enfield Elementary School and presented “Pictures at an Exhibition” to Christine Finnegan’s art classes. The students then created artworks responding to the music. The student’s drawings are currently on display in the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport.

The ICO is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. The orchestra is always seeking to draw membership and inspiration from the rich and diverse local musical community. The four composers come from varied walks of life in Ithaca. Organist/pianist Christopher Morgan Loy wrote a piece entitled “Imagining A Distant World,” based on Barbara Mink’s artwork of the same name. Ithaca College senior Kay Adams’s “Havana II” is a musical interpretation of Elzbieta Sadza’s work. Recent Cornell graduate Carly Hodes composed “Anima Magnificat” after viewing Gurdon Brewster’s sculpture “Magnificat” and Montessori School 7th grader Max Shuhan’s “Sand Girl” was inspired by two works of Monica Franciscus. The art that inspired the composers can be seen at CAP Art Space, The Ink Shop, and State of the Art Gallery. All the artwork will be shown during the post-concert reception at the First Baptist Church.

This concert was made possible with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.



ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Christopher Morgan Loy first came to Ithaca to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Cornell University. He is currently a Professor of Theory and Composition at Binghamton University, the organist/pianist at the First Baptist Church of Ithaca, and teaches piano and composition at the Community School of Music and Art in Ithaca.

Claude Lamothe represents the global community both musically and geographically. A resident of Montréal, his music is non-traditional in nature but he often incorporates themes from classical pieces. He made his Ithaca debut in 2009 at the New Directions Cello Festival and has been a frequent visitor to Ithaca in recent years.

Leah Kaller has played with orchestras around the northeast. Leah is a founding member of the ICO cello choir (a.k.a. David and the Boom Chicks) and has played with the ICO String Trio and the Grassroots Festival Chamber Orchestra in recent years. She has served as publicity coordinator for the ICO and the New Directions Cello Festival.

Kay Adams is a senior composition major at Ithaca College. She won the Smadbeck Composition Prize in Spring 2010 for her opera “At Night,” and is presently writing a piece for the Boynton Middle School band.

Native Ithacan Carly Hodes studied music technology and electronic composition at Oberlin Conservatory. She transferred to Cornell after two years and studied composition with Kevin Ernste and Steven Stucky. Her composition thesis, a chamber opera for piano and three voices was performed at Cornell in the spring of 2010

Maximilian Shuhan composed his first piece for orchestra, “Symphony No. 1” in the fifth grade. Max has studied piano since the age of six and is presently a student of Patricia Reuning. He began cello studies at age eight with Sera Smolen and is presently a student of Heidi Hoffman and participates in the Ithaca Talent Education program.

ABOUT “PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION”

Modest Mussorgsky and Viktor Hartmann met in around 1870. Both men were devoted to the development of Russian nationalism through art. When Hartmann died suddenly of an aneurysm in 1873 Mussorgsky was devastated. Vladimir Stasov, an influential critic of the time arranged for over 400 pieces of Hartmann’s work to be displayed at the Hall of the Academy of Artists in St Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mussorgsky donated pieces from his private collection and attended the showing. He was so motivated by the experience he composed the virtuosic piano suite in six weeks. Mikhail Tushmalov, a Russian opera conductor and student of Rimsky-Korsakov was the first to orchestrate “Pictures.” He left out three paintings (Gnomus, Tuileries, and Bydlo) and most of the Promenades. In this concert, Christopher Morgan Loy will play the excluded movements on the organ.
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2011 Fall Concert “The Music of Dances”

Saturday, December 10, 2011, 4 pm
First Baptist Church of Ithaca , DeWitt Park

The Ithaca Community Orchestra will present its fall concert on Saturday, December 10 at the First Baptist Church on DeWitt Park in downtown Ithaca . This program, “The Music of Dances,” consists of music inspired by dances of the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic eras.. The orchestra will perform works by Respighi, Rachmaninoff, Satie, and Dvorak. Violinist Aaron Buck will be the featured soloist in Saint Saen’s Violin Concerto No. 3 and Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise. The concert will begin at 4 pm with a reception to follow. There is a suggested $5 donation at the door.

This concert is the first with ICO’s new music director Diana Geiger. Diana is currently the Orchestral Director at Boynton Middle and Fall Creek Elementary Schools. She served as the Assistant Conductor of the ICO for the past two seasons. She received her Masters of Muisc in Orchestral Conducting from Houghton College and Bachelor of Music Education from Ithaca College. In the summers, Diana is the Assistant Director of the New York State Summer School of the Arts at Saratoga. She has performed with numerous groups around the area including the Onondaga Civic Symphony, the Southern Tier Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes.

The ICO is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. The orchestra is always seeking to draw membership and inspiration from the rich and diverse local musical community.
This concert was made possible with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.


ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Aaron Buck was born and raised in Broome County and graduated with a Music Performance Degree from Ithaca College. He received his Master’s Degree in Music Education from Boston University. Aaron currently teaches orchestra at DeWitt Middle School and BJM Elementary School. He has performed with the Binghamton Philharmonic and Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra. He is currently a violinist in the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes and a member of the Cornucopia Quartet.

ABOUT THE MUSIC:
Ottorino Respighi was obsessed with the music of the Baroque and Renaissance era. He preferred combining pre-classical melodic styles and musical forms, such as dance suites, with typical late 19th century romantic harmonies and textures. Ancient Airs and Dances published in 1917, was his first attempt at orchestrating lute and keyboard pieces. These works are based on lute pieces of Simone Molinaro and Vincenzo Galilei as well as those of some anonymous composers. He ultimately wrote three sets of Ancient Airs and Dances.

Erik Satie published Gymnopédies in 1888. Originally written for the piano, these three short pieces are considered to be the precursor to modern ambient music. All three share a similar common theme, structure and time signature. They are representative of Satie’s rebellion against the traditional “salon music” of the 19th century. Satie claimed to be inspired to write these pieces after reading Flaubert’s Salammbô. Claude Debussy decided to orchestrate the Gymnopédie in 1896. He chose to orchestrate only the first and third pieces and he reversed the numbering.

Camille Saint-Saëns was a prolific composer and worked in all genres of or music including opera, symphonic writings, choral music, chamber music and concertos. His works encompass both technically difficult passages and gorgeous melodies. He wrote the Violin Concerto No. 3 in 1880 for Spanish virtuoso Pablo Sarasate. It was premiered in Paris in January 1881.

The Russia composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was inducted into the board of trustees for the Ithaca College School of Music. The Vocalise was originally written in 1912 and was published as the last of a set of fourteen songs. The first thirteen songs were set to poems written by Russian romantic poets, but the vocalise was written without words, relying entirely on the beauty of the melodic line. It became the most successful song of the set.

###
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

Ithaca Community Orchestra Spring Concert: "America"

Saturday, May 5, 2012
4:00 p.m.
First Baptist Church
In Dewitt Park, Ithaca, NY

This concert features music from American composers, celebrating diverse
history from different eras.
The History Center in Tompkins County will collaborate with an exhibit. There
will be readings from "Dear Friend Amelia, the Civil War Letters of Private
John Tidd."

Gould- American Salute
Ungar- Ashokan Farewell, with readings by Ken Campbell
Dvorak- American Suite, Op. 98b
Lamb- Fast Freight Dream
Copland- Saturday Night Waltz and Hoedown from Rodeo
Berlin- Symphonic Portrait

===
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2012 Spring Concert "AMERICA!"
Saturday, May 5, 2012, 4 pm
First Baptist Church of Ithaca , DeWitt Park

ITHACA NY - On Saturday, May 5, the Ithaca Community Orchestra will present its Spring Concert at the First Baptist Church on DeWitt Park in downtown Ithaca. This concert, entitled "America!", features composers who are American or have a strong connection to America. Works to be performed include Morton Gould's American Salute; Dvorak's American Suite; Ashokan Farewell by Jay Unger; Fast Freight Dream composed for the ICO by Ithaca College faculty member Sally Lamb McCune; A Symphonic Portrait, a medley of Irving Berlin songs; and excerpts from Aaron Copland's Rodeo Suite. The concert is part of the Tompkins County Arts Partnership’s "Spring Writes" 2012 Finger Lakes Literary Festival. The orchestra is also collaborating with the History Center in Tompkins County and the Boynton Middle School Chamber Orchestra. The concert begins at 4 pm. There is a suggested $5 donation at the door and a reception will follow.

Dear Friend Amelia: The Civil War Letters of Private John Tidd is a collection of 48 letters dating from July 1862 through October 1865. They tell the story of a young man's experiences as a Civil War soldier and document his affections for his friend Amelia Haskell, who resided in Speedsville, N.Y. In 1972 Herman and Maggie Moesch discovered the letters along with other artifacts in a hidden room in their Slaterville Springs house and gave them to Mary Jordan. Ms. Jordan and her sister, Joyce Hatch, spent the next 40 years researching the letters and solving some of the riddles found within them. The book was published by Six Mile Creek Press in 2011 and can be purchased at the History Center in Tompkins County. While WSKG personality Ken Campbell reads excerpts from the letters, the Boynton Middle School Chamber Orchestra will join the ICO to play Ashokan Farewell, a Jay Unger song featured in Ken Burn's Civil War series. The History Center will have a display at the reception after the concert and the authors will be present to sign books.
Sally Lamb McCune has always been fascinated with trains, the sounds they make and the excitement they create. Her piece, Fast Freight Dream, was commissioned by the Ithaca Community Orchestra and was inspired by the trains and the many texts and folksongs associated with them The ICO will premiere this work and Ms. McCune will give a brief presentation during the concert.

The ICO is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. The orchestra is always seeking to draw membership and inspiration from the rich and diverse local musical community. This concert was made possible with grant support from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County and from The service League. Follow the ICO on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ithacacommunityorchestra or visit their website at www.ithacacommunityorchestra.org for more information

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Sally Lamb McCune is originally from Detroit and has studied at the University of Toronto and the California Institute of the Arts. She earned her MFA and DMA at Cornell University and has written commissions for the Kitchen Theatre Company, Cayuga Cahmber Orchestra, Ariadne String Quartet and the New York State Music Teacher's Association. She is currently on the faculty at Ithaca College.

Ken Campbell is the Director of Radio Programming and Operations for WSKG Public Broadcasting. WSKG Radio has served Ithaca since 1983 with a blend of news and classical music, along with other cultural programming.

==
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===

[Mike_L]

The Ithaca Community Orchestra’s 2013 Spring Concert “Wails for Whales”
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
First Baptist Church of Ithaca , DeWitt Park

The Ithaca Community Orchestra, with Music Director Diana Geiger and assistant conductor James Mick, and the Museum of the Earth will team up to present a spring concert at the First Baptist Church in DeWitt Park on Saturday, April 27th, at 4 pm. The concert will feature Zachary Sweet playing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor. The orchestra will also perform “Wails for Whales”, an arrangement of a traditional folk song by Max Buckholtz, and Beethoven’s 1st Symphony. Warren Allmon, Director of the Paleontological Research Institute, will also give a pre-concert talk on the up-coming permanent glacier exhibit. There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door and the Museum staff will be available at the post-concert reception to present a preview of the new glacier exhibit and to answer any questions.

The ICO gleans its membership from all corners of the community. The orchestra allows non-professional musicians an opportunity to perform in an ensemble twice a year. It has worked with many prominent local guest soloists and composers from Ithaca College and Cornell University and the surrounding area.

The ICO has collaborated with the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation, the Family Reading Partnership, The History Center of Tompkins County, the Discovery Trail and the Ithaca Community Chorus and has been a participant of Spring Writes and the First Friday Gallery Night. The ICO has long been supported by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County and is a 501(c)(3) organization.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. It has two public performances each season and has performed at the Ithaca Festival, nursing homes, GIAC, the Racker Center, and other underserved locations throughout Tompkins County. The ICO was founded by Annet Vogels, former bassoonist with the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and John Webber, English composer and flutist. Mr. Webber also served as the orchestra’s first music director from 2001-2005. In 2005 Cayenna Ponchione took over the orchestra. During her tenure the orchestra grew in membership and as a creative entity. In 2011 Diana Geiger was appointed director. She also serves as the Director of Orchestras at Boynton Middle School and teaches strings at Fall Creek Elementary.



===
_________________
Michael Ludgate - forum administrator
The Canaan Institute http://www.canaaninstitute.org/

===