“YOUNG GENIUS” KICKS OFF THE WOODSTOCK CHAMBER ORCHESTRA’S 28TH SEASON Concert at Bard College on Friday, October 20

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra (WCO), conducted by artistic director David Leighton, kicks off its 28th season at Bard College on Friday, October 20. The program, “Young Genius,” features Bizet’s Symphony in C, Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, and the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson’s “Warning.” The program, presented in cooperation with The Bard Center, begins at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall. Tickets are $15 for adults; $5 for students; and free for Bard students, faculty, and staff. (The program is repeated on Saturday, October 21, at 8:00 p.m. at Pointe of Praise Family Life Center, Kingston; and on Sunday, October 22, at 3:00 p.m. at the Bearsville Theater, Woodstock.) “Georges Bizet was a 17-year-old conservatory student when he wrote his Symphony in C, yet it has achieved immortality as an orchestral gem, admired even by Igor Stravinsky, notorious for his blistering criticisms of other composers,” says Jean Russak, board member of the WCO. “Felix Mendelssohn, a child prodigy whom many compared to Mozart, also carried his great talents into maturity. In his colorful Scottish Symphony, he dramatically combines Scottish tunes and rhythms with the classical idea of the symphony.” Mikael Karlsson’s music has been featured on soundtracks of such experimental films as History Lessons, Orpheus and Eurydice 2001, and dog, a CD with experimental sound collages and compositions. Karlsson was born in Halmstad, Sweden, and studied at the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York City, where he received the Karol Rathaus Memorial Award, the school’s highest award for composition. The season at Bard continues in the spring on March 9, with “Fight Night at the Opera,” which features Bizet’s Carmen with six soloists including well-known area singers Danielle Woerner and Cecelia Keehn, Ars Choralis, and the Hudson Valley Youth Chorale directed by Barbara Pickhardt. In the final concert on April 25, “Maestro 2 Maestro,” WCO artistic director emeritus and Bard professor Luis Garcia-Renart returns as guest conductor for an all-Beethoven program featuring Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, Coriolan Overture, and Piano Concerto No. 5 (“The Emperor”) with David Leighton, WCO’s current maestro, as piano soloist. The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, formed in 1980 by musicians from the Woodstock area, now comprises professional musicians from the entire Hudson Valley. WCO regularly commissions music by local and regional composers and each season performs in Woodstock, Kingston, Saugerties, and at Bard College. For tickets and further information, call 845-246-7045 or visit www.wco-online.com. # # # (10.11.06)

This event was last updated on 10-30-2006

Back to Top