Music ensembles start are touring through New York and Pennsylvania
Clarence High School will host the Fredonia Chamber Orchestra Spring Tour Kick-Off Concert
The SUNY Fredonia School of Music is gearing up for its annual Spring Ensemble Tours, featuring three separate ensembles taking three distinct tour paths throughout New York and Pennsylvania during the week of March 17. This year's lineup of ensembles includes the Fredonia Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Dr. David Rudge, the Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Gerald Gray, and a unique double woodwind quintet comprising one faculty quintet and one student quintet. They call themselves, simply, the Fredonia Winds.
The week-long tour schedule begins with a kick-off concert by the Fredonia Chamber Orchestra at Clarence Central High School auditorium (Clarence, N.Y.) on Sunday, March 17, at 6:30 p.m. This concert is free and open to the public and will feature the 36-member student chamber orchestra performing works by Handel, Mozart and Dvorak. An added dimension to the program and the tour are faculty soloists David Colwell (violin) and David Rose (viola), who will perform with the orchestra for Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364 for Violin and Viola. The program also features Handel's Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 5 performed on baroque bows, and Dvorak's Czech Suite, Op. 39.
"The Fredonia College Chamber Orchestra is delighted to be performing it's Kick-Off Concert for our Spring Tour at Clarence High School," said Dr. Rudge. "We very much wanted to share what we are doing with the students there, and at all the surrounding schools in the area. Erie County is such an important hub of music for our region, with so many fine orchestra and band programs, that we are honored to be able to interact with and play for them."
The Chamber Orchestra is a small ensemble of 36 players dedicated to performing works written from the Baroque period to the present day. The players are chosen from the College Symphony by audition or by invitation only. The group has done a number of world premieres, and has performed with soloists from Tafelmusik and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. This is an "honors" group, and touring ensemble.
After the Clarence performance, the Chamber Orchestra continues on to Rochester, Albany and Poughkeepsie, visiting and working with eleven school districts in all.
During the same week, the Fredonia Winds travel to Binghamton, Long Island and the Bronx. Featuring the Fredonia Wind Quintet, with faculty members Susan Royal (flute), Sarah Hamilton (oboe), Andrew Seigel (clarinet), Marc Guy (horn) and Laura Koepke (bassoon), and the student quintet featuring music majors Alyssa Czechowski (flute), Amy Selkirk (oboe), Corinne Smith (clarinet), Molly Sacheli (horn) and Marisa Esposito (bassoon), the double quintet will perform an interesting program of works by Raff, Ligeti, Nielsen, Berio and Jeff Scott.
The 24-member Chamber Choir is a select group that will head south to Pittsburgh (Pa.), performing works by Monteverdi, Rossini, Argento, Paulus and more. The ensemble will also spend a day at Olean (N.Y.) High School after traveling and performing in the Pittsburgh area.
"Fredonia’s School of Music abounds with fine performances," commented School of Music Director Karl Boelter, "a product of a student body eager to make music at a high level and a faculty inspired to lead them. The commitment to musical accomplishment exists throughout our comprehensive music school; performance majors, music education majors, composers, recording engineers and music therapists all have equal access to the spotlight. The joy of music-making is palpable, and it is this that we love to take on tour."
For more information about the SUNY Fredonia School of Music, please visit us online: www.fredonia.edu/music
