The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association recently received a $20,800 grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission for the 2012-13 season.
The money is being used to help support Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus concerts, which can cost $10,000 apiece.
The Oak Ridge Community Band will have its annual Christmas sing-along concert at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16, at the First Baptist Church.
The free concert will be in the church’s sanctuary, and there will be free refreshments at the end of the performance, a press release said.
The Roane State Community College’s annual holiday concert is scheduled for the second weekend in December.
The holiday concert includes two performances, one at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, and the other at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in the O’Brien Theatre on the college’s Roane County campus in Harriman.
The Sound Company Children’s Choir will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with two special concerts this weekend that will highlight some of the group’s favorite musical selections during the past decade.
The first concert is at 7 p.m. today and the second is at 3 p.m. Saturday. Both concerts are at the Historic Grove Theater.
The nonprofit award-winning choir was founded in July 2003 by Sue Stone Byrne, Sally Avery, and Francine Britto. It includes students in four groups from grades one through twelve.
In addition to Sound Company concerts, Sound Company groups have recently performed in such productions as “Take It Home Tennessee” to raise money for the Emory Valley Center, Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra’s “Brundibar,” Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Clayton Holiday Concerts, and the 100th Anniversary Titanic Memorial Tribute at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, a press release said.
This fall, Sound Company has 138 performers from 30 schools from across East Tennessee as well as some home-schooled students.
For more information, visit the Sound Company website at https://sites.google.com/site/soundcompanyth/home.
John Becker
The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will present a Veterans Day concert on Sunday in Maryville.
World War II veterans will be admitted free, and all other veterans can enjoy the concert at a reduced price, a press release said.
John Becker, WBIR news anchor, will narrate “The Greatest Generation” by Greg Danner, a composer from Cookeville, Tenn. Since April 2008, Becker has produced the TV series “Service and Sacrifice” on the lives of East Tennessee veterans.
ORSO will open the concert with “The Star Spangled Banner” (lyrics by Francis Scott Key and melody by John Stafford Smith) and close it with Morton Gould’s “American Salute” and Robert Lowden’s “Armed Forces Salute.”
The Oak Ridge Chorus, accompanied by ORSO, will sing Randall Thompson’s “Frostiana,” which provides a choral setting for seven poems by Robert Frost (1874-1963). These poems take a nostalgic look at New England country life.
The chorus and orchestra also will play John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen” (from the movie “Saving Private Ryan”).
The concert starts at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Clayton Center for the Arts at Maryville College, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $25 (adult), $10 (college students 19 years or older, with ID), and $5 (students 18 years and younger).
Schedule, ticket and concert information, as well as driving directions to Maryville College, are available on the ORCMA website at www.orcma.org. To renew a season subscription or become a new subscriber at a discount, call the ORCMA office at (865) 483-5569.
A concert by the Oak Ridge Community Band on Nov. 11 will feature music that includes classical, blues, and modern compositions.
The music has been selected by the band’s percussion section and leaders of the brass sections, which include horns, trumpets, baritones, trombones, and basses.
This Brasso Fortissimo concert is the second concert of the season in the Community Band’s “Voyage of Discovery,” which focuses on performing a number of pieces in the band’s music library that have not been played in a long time or have never been played at all, a press release said.
The concert starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, at the historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge Community Band is directed by band leader Dale Pendley and assistant conductor Lisa Michaels. Pendley is a retired band director from the Oak Ridge Schools, and Michaels is a music educator in the Loudon County Schools, the press release said.
Admission to the Nov. 11 concert will be $8 for adults, $6 senior citizens and students, and free for subscription members with membership cards. Free refreshments will be provided in the lobby at the end of the performance.
For more information, visit the Community Band’s website at www.orcb.org or call (865) 482-3568.
The Tesla Quartet will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)
The award-winning Tesla Quartet will play at Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
The quartet will perform Gyorgy Ligeti’s “Andante and Allegretto” and Carter Pann’s “String Quartet No. 1: Love Letters.”
It’s the second concert of the season in the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s 2012-13 Chamber Music Series. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
ORCMA said the young quartet won a gold medal at the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and third prize in the 2012 London International String Quartet Competition. A quartet-in-residence at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the group has performed in Austria, Canada, and England, as well as the United States.
The quartet formed at the Juilliard School in 2008, quickly establishing itself as one of the most promising young ensembles in New York, the press release said. Quartet members are violinists Ross Snyder and Michelle Lie, violist Megan Mason, and cellist Kimberly Patterson.
Clarinetist Wonkak Kim, a faculty member at Tennessee Tech University, will play with the Tesla Quartet at Pollard Auditorium on Saturday. (Submitted photo)
The Tesla Quartet’s performances have been praised as “technically superb,” “full of urgency, color and subtle dynamics,” and as “a master class in quartet technique,” the release said.
It said Kim has captivated audiences around the globe. He has received praise from reviewers for “excellent breath control and fine command of his instrument,” “lyrical musicality and supple tone,” and “impressive range.” Since his solo debut in 2007 with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, Kim has performed in hundreds of venues on four continents.
The Tennessee Arts Commission is a co-sponsor of this and other ORCMA Chamber Series concerts.
For ticket information, visit the ORCMA website at www.orcma.org or call the ORCMA office at (865) 483-5569. A reserved seat ticket costs $25 ($12 for students).
Becky Ball’s program notes for the concert are on the ORCMA website, and the Tesla’s website is www.teslaquartet.com.
Local trio Arte Musica will celebrate the release of their debut album with a CD release concert at Robertsville Baptist Church on Friday. From left to right are pianist Rudolph Nemeth, double bassist Travis Witherington, and banjo player Wade Darnell. (Submitted photo)
A local musical trio that features a pianist, banjo player, and double bassist will celebrate the completion of their debut album with a CD release concert on Friday.
The group, Arte Musica, includes pianist Rudolph Nemeth, banjo player Wade Darnell, and double bassist Travis Witherington. The debut CD is titled “1.”
Arte Musica’s release concert starts at 7 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Robertsville Baptist Church in Oak Ridge.
The band’s performance will focus on selections from their debut CD, in addition to new compositions. The event is free and open to the public, and the album will be for sale at the event, a press release said.
For more information, please visit www.artemusicaband.com.
The Ridge City Ramblers and three local church choirs will perform Sunday in the Reach Out Music Festival at Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge.
A music festival on Sunday features three church choirs and local bluegrass and Americana group Ridge City Ramblers.
It’s the 7th annual Reach Out Music Festival, and it’s presented by Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge.
The three church choirs scheduled to perform are Grace Lutheran, led by Paula Smith; First Presbyterian, under the direction of Anna Thomas; and Kern Memorial United Methodist, led by Kevin Miller.
The free festival starts at 3 p.m. Sunday at Grace Lutheran, which is located at 131 West Gettysburg Ave.
A press release said Ridge City Ramblers have been “picking together” since 2010.
Overflow parking for Sunday’s festival is available at Woodland Elementary School behind Grace Lutheran Church. Parking lot attendants will be on hand to give directions, the release said.
The church has invited parents to bring their families, including young children.
“A nursery and attendant is ready to assist if the small children need care,” the release said.
It said a freewill offering will be taken for those who wish to contribute to the sustainability of the festival, and “finger food and fellowship” will be available after the event.
For more information, call Grace Lutheran Church at (865) 483-3787.
Charlie Morris
A blues festival at the Grove Theater in Oak Ridge tonight features guitarist Charlie Morris and his band along with three guests: pianist Wendel Werner, vocalist Katy Free, and reggae band Natti Love Joys.
The Fourth Annual “Coming Home Blue Festival” starts at 6 p.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.
Barbecue and “other assorted goodies” will be served starting at 4 p.m.
Festival sponsors include the Atomic City Sportsmen Club.
The Grove Theater is located at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge.
From a regatta and football to a car show and pumpkin festival, there is much to do in Oak Ridge this weekend.
Tonight, the Oak Ridge Wildcats football team wraps up its regular season with a 7:30 p.m. game at Campbell County.
On Saturday, the Secret City Head Race starts at 8 a.m. at the Oak Ridge Marina, and the annual Pumpkin Fest starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. in Grove Center.
The Secret City Winds Quintet will have their debut performance during a free concert Sunday. Pictured from left to right are Alex Wilson, Jean Box, Ardyce Lee, Cyndi Jeffers, and Lynlee Robinson. (Submitted photo)
The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra has a free concert on Sunday featuring music to “set the mood” for Halloween.
The orchestra will play Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens, Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky, Farandole by Bizet, and the Harry Potter Suite by John Williams.
The concert will also feature the debut of the Secret City Winds Quintet, who will perform March to the Scaffold by Berlioz, and Polka from “The Golden Age” by Shostakovich. The quintet members are Jean Box on flute, Cyndi Jeffers on oboe, Lynlee Robinson on clarinet, Ardyce Lee on bassoon, and Alex Wilson on French horn.
Sunday’s concert starts at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, which is at the corner of Oak Ridge Turnpike and LaFayette Drive. Although admission is free, charitable donations to support the orchestra’s routine operating expenses will be appreciated, a press release said.
The press release included more information on the musical selections:
The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra is pictured above. (Submitted photo)
March to the Scaffold is the fourth movement of Symphonie Fantastique, composed in 1830 by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). The symphony traces the tragic fantasies of a musician suffering from unrequited love. In the 4th movement, the musician, under the influence of opium, imagines that he has killed the object of his love, and views himself being executed by Guillotine. The entire symphony is a self-portrait of Berlioz, who fell in love with a Shakespearean actress, Harriet Smithson, from seeing her in an 1827 play. They never met until she heard the symphony in 1832, and realized she was the genesis. They married in 1833, but the marriage was bitter and brief. The March was arranged for wind quintet by Alex Wilson in 2012.
Polka is the 3rd movement from a suite extracted from the 1930 ballet, The Golden Age, composed by Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). The subject of the ballet is a Russian soccer team that encounters corrupt business manipulations while touring in Western Europe. The political satire on the 1920s era depicts the Soviet ideology of the workers struggling against the capitalists. The Polka was arranged for wind quintet by Jerry Neil Smith in 1973.
Danse Macabre was composed in 1874 by Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921). According to legend, “Death” appears at midnight every year on Halloween. Death calls forth the dead from their graves to perform their dance for him while he plays his fiddle (represented by the solo violin). Under his command, the skeletons dance until the rooster crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.
Night on Bald Mountain was originally written in 1867 by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), and orchestrated by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov in 1886. In the music, you can hear the portrayal of the assembly of witches, their incessant gossip, the arrival of Satan, and the obscene praises of the Devil. As dawn breaks on the Sabbath, the frenzy subsides into a calm dénouement, while the wicked participants disperse.
Farandole is the 4th movement of L’Arlesienne Suite 2 by George Bizet (1838-1875) with orchestration by Ernest Guiraud in 1879. It is extracted from the incidental music written by Bizet for the 1872 play, L’Arlesienne by Alphonse Daudet. A farandole is a spirited French provincial dance, wherein all the men join hands and stand in a circle. The women clasp hands and weave in and out between the men in a serpentine line. If you listen carefully, you will hear The March of Kings in the opening and conclusion of this piece.
Harry Potter needs no introduction, due to the popular 2001-2011 series of movies based on the books by J. K. Rowling. John Williams (born 1932) composed the music for the first three movies (2001, 2002, and 2004). The 2001 arrangement of the Williams music by Jerry Brubaker captures the atmosphere of the wizardry, witchcraft and magic experienced by the Hogwarts. Those of you who have seen the movies will recognize the memorable themes from this magical fantasy.
The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra is a 501(c)3, nonprofit, volunteer organization. Anyone wishing to regularly take part in the orchestra is encouraged to contact Personnel Manager Alex Wilson at orcopersonnelmanager@gmail.com. The orchestra welcomes musicians of all ages with at least four years of experience. For more information on the ORCO, visit www.OakRidgeCommunityOrchestra.com.
