Woodstock Chamber Orchestra Performs All-Mendelssohn Program
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra (WCO), conducted by artistic director David Leighton, offers an all-Mendelssohn program at Bard College on Friday, October 19. Featured soloist is 16-year-old violinist Stephanie Lin. The program begins at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall; tickets are $17.00 for adults, $5.00 for students, and free for Bard faculty, students, and staff with identification. Subscription sets, with 4 tickets for any concert, are available for $60. (This program is repeated on Saturday, October 20, at 8:00 p.m. at Pointe of Praise Family Life Center, 243 Hurley Avenue, Kingston; and on Sunday, October 21, at 3:00 p.m. at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.) The WCO season at the College is presented in cooperation with The Bard Center.
The program includes Mendelssohn’s “Hebrides” Overture, “Italian” Symphony, and Violin Concerto in E Minor, with Lin making her solo debut with the WCO in the latter piece.
“In this opening concert a wide range of music by Felix Mendelssohn gives the listener a chance to experience the unique musical world of this beloved composer,” explains Maestro Leighton. “Not only gifted with melody, he shows himself to be a true craftsman in the contrapuntal, or ‘multivoice’ tradition of Bach. Each family of instruments is showcased and their range of colors, along with Mendelssohn’s skill in orchestrating them together, creates a fascinating musical drama.”
The 2007–08 WCO season at Bard continues on Friday, February 29, at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall with popular teenage virtuosos Madalyn and Cicely Parnas performing Leopold Hoffman’s Concerto for Violin and Cello in G Major (repeated on at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 at Pointe of Praise Family Life Center, 243 Hurley Avenue, Kingston; and on Sunday, March 2, at 3:00 p.m. at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock). Concluding the season on Thursday, April 24, is a concert version of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Cheryl Warfield and Aaron Sheya, as well as five other rising opera stars (repeated on Saturday, April 26, at 8:00 p.m. at Pointe of Praise Family Life Center, 243 Hurley Avenue, Kingston; and on Sunday, April 27, at 3:00 p.m. at the Reformed Church of Saugerties).
For further information and to order tickets, call 845-246-7045 or visit www.wco-online.com.
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WCO artistic director David Leighton is a graduate of The Juilliard School. When he was 22 years old, he was invited by Rafael Kubelik to the Metropolitan Opera as assistant chorus master and assistant conductor. Leighton has been recital accompanist for Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Marilyn Horne, Montserrat Caballé, and Paul Plishka, and conducted the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Dallas Opera; Nashville Opera; Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, Germany; Châtelet, Théâtre Musicale de Paris; and IRCAM (Pierre Boulez, director). He assisted the late Sir Georg Solti in the world premiere of Sir Michael Tippett’s Byzantium with the Chicago Symphony. As artistic director of the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, he gave piano recitals and conducted performances featuring 20th-century masterpieces.
Stephanie Lin began violin study at the age of 6 with Betty-Jean Hagen, WCO concertmaster. Lin is a senior at Arlington High School and a resident of Poughkeepsie. Her awards in music include the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Virtuoso-in-Progress Competition and Stringendo’s annual Concerto Competition. Lin has been concertmaster of Area All-State for two consecutive years, and joined the first violin section of WCO last season.
The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, formed in 1980 by musicians from the Woodstock area, 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.
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Editor's note: To download high-resolution (300 dpi jpegs) press images, please click on thumbnails below.
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(10/10/07)