Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Symphony to start season with new music, national park celebration

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Oak-Ridge-Symphony-Orchestra-Strings

Part of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra string section is pictured above. (Photo courtesy ORCMA)

 

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will kick off its new season in September with new music by East Tennessee composer Mark Harrell and a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

The concert is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 24, at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. It’s the 72nd season for the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will be led by Music Director Dan Allcott.

The concert, titled “Pride of Place,” is a celebration of Oak Ridge, especially recognizing the scientists and immigrants who founded this community, a press release said.

Commissioned by the JAZ Fund, Harrell’s “π to the Sky: Tribute to Discovery” is a celebration of the post-World War II generation of Oak Ridge scientists and their numerous accomplishments. The concert will also celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service with Peter Boyer’s moving narrated work, “Ellis Island: The Dream of America.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Symphony to celebrate National Park Service centennial during season opening

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Oak Ridge Symphony with Dan Allcott

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra is pictured above with conductor Dan Allcott. (File photo by ORCMA)

 

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the National Park Service’s centennial, its 100th anniversary, during a season-opening concert in September.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a new national park that includes Oak Ridge, is partnering with the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, or ORCMA, for the special celebration of the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary. The centennial will be celebrated Saturday, September 24.

It’s the 72nd season-opening concert for the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra.

The September concert, titled “Pride of Place,” will celebrate Oak Ridge’s scientific heritage with an exciting world premiere by East Tennessee composer Mark Harrell commissioned by the JAZ Fund to honor the post-World War II generation of scientists in Oak Ridge, a press release said. The concert will conclude with Peter Boyer’s powerful and moving “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” for narrator and orchestra. [Read more…]

ORCMA 2015-2016 season starts Sept. 26 with Haydn, Handel

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Oak Ridge Symphony with Dan Allcott

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra is pictured above with conductor Dan Allcott. (Photo by ORCMA)

 

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s season starts September 26 with a concert that features music by Handel and Haydn.

“If variety really is the spice of life, music lovers will especially enjoy the 71st season of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association for 2015-2016 because music director Dan Allcott has planned a season of Baroque to Modern, American Salute to English Invasion, and more,” a press release said.

The opening concert will include Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 “London,” performed by the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra. Then, Oak Ridge Chorus will join the symphony in singing Handel’s Coronation Anthem, “Zadok the Priest,” which will be directed by Seth Maples, the chorus conductor. The soloist for the evening, Wesley Baldwin, cello professor at the University of Tennessee, will perform Elgar’s beloved “Cello Concerto in A minor.” [Read more…]

Grammy-winning guitarist plays with Oak Ridge Symphony on Saturday

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Jason Vieaux

Jason Vieaux

Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso Jason Vieaux will play in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

He will play Antonio Vivaldi’s “Guitar Concerto in D major,” Malcolm Arnold’s “Serenade for Guitar and Strings,” and the “Allegro Maestoso” from Mauro Giuliani’s “Concerto in A,” a press release said.

Vieaux will perform with the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra at the First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge. The concert is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7.

The concert, conducted by Music Director Dan Allcott, will also feature J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 1” and Frederick Delius’ “Air and Dance.” [Read more…]

Celebrate love, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with Valentine’s Day at the Symphony

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Violins and Oak Ridge Symphony

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William Shakespeare once wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.”

It is in that spirit that the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will present “Valentine’s Day at the Symphony” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 14, at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

The professional Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Dan Allcott, will present music by Cole Porter, Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture.”

They will also be joined by the Oak Ridge Chorus, led by chorus conductor Seth Maples, for Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music.” [Read more…]

Cumberland Piano Trio plays at First United Methodist on Sunday, Jan. 18

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Cumberland Piano Trio

Cumberland Piano Trio

The Cumberland Piano Trio will play at First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge at 3 p.m. Sunday, January 18.

“Oak Ridge Symphony’’s own piano trio (violinist Susan Eddlemon, cellist Dan Allcott, and pianist Emi Kagawa) join forces with New York composer Larry Spivack to present an exciting program, including a new work commemorating Oak Ridge’’s Spallation Neutron Source,” organizers said. “The program also includes Spivack’s ‘“Suite from ‘‘Puss in Boots’’ Ballet” and Schubert’’s “Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major.”

The concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. See the ORCMA website for more information.

Free family concert Sunday features ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ ‘Spring’

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Martha Damiano

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will present “Peter and the Wolf” and Vivaldi’s “Spring” in a free family concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, January 25, at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

Children are invited to come early for paper puppet making and instrument making beginning at 2 p.m. at the museum at 461 West Outer Drive. The museum is offering free admission from 1-5 p.m. Sunday to support the concert.

Puppets from the “Peter and the Wolf” story are in the Anna Cebrat Puppet Room at the museum, where children may act out the story in the puppet theater in the week leading up to the concert. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Symphony, Chorus perform Verdi, Shostakovich on Saturday

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Dan Allcott

Dan Allcott

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The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will turn Saturday night into a magnificent musical evening when the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association presents a program of Verdi, Gorecki, and Shostakovich at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Joining the orchestra for the concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday will be the Oak Ridge Chorus along with the South Doyle High School Chorus for Giuseppe Verdi’s “Stabat Mater” and “Te Deum.”

Symphony conductor Dan Allcott wanted to do a Verdi choral work and chose these works in celebration of Verdi’s 200th birthday year. “The ‘Stabat Mater’ is one of my favorite works by the composer,” Allcott said. “Verdi was a small town boy who had a great work ethic, having composed 30 operas in his lifetime. These particular works were done in his later years.” [Read more…]

Rock to Bach Music Festival is Saturday at New Hope Center

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Kukuly Fuego

Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego will perform gypsy and American swing jazz at the Oak Ridge Rock to Bach Music Festival on Saturday, March 1, at New Hope Center. (Submitted photo)

The fourth annual Oak Ridge Rock to Bach Music Festival is Saturday.

Rock to Bach is an all-day music festival presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association as a benefit for ORCMA music organizations, such as the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the world-class Chamber Music Series.

Eighteen groups will perform this Saturday, playing pop, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic, patriotic, Dixieland, swing, klezmer, and classical music.

The festival is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the New Hope Center near the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex. The New Hope Center is next to Scarboro Road, just across from the intersection with Union Valley Road.

Among the performing groups and performers are the Tennessee Schmalz, Knoxville Youth Jazz Orchestra, Early Bird Special Band, Liz and Tim, Jack Russell and the Terriers, Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego, Walker Marema, Silver Winds Choir, and singers with the Oak Ridge Chorus who will perform selections from musicals, operas, and operettas. [Read more…]

Rock to Bach Music Festival on March 1 at New Hope Center

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Classic Beatles and Rock to Bach Music Festival

Fifty years ago, the Beatles, the pop and rock group from England, arrived in America to perform before screaming fans. Now, one of them, Paul McCartney, composes classical music.

Imagine the Beatles walking one way as they pass Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Haydn walking in the opposite direction.

That’s the mental image you might have if you attend Oak Ridge’s fourth Rock to Bach Music Festival on Saturday, Mar. 1.

The annual festival has a new venue this year. It will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the New Hope Center of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Symphony Orchestra presents Baroque Bonanza on Saturday

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Meghan Mayes

Meghan Mayes

A Saturday evening concert with the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will feature the music of Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart.

It will also feature singer Meghan Mayes, winner of the Youth Aliyah Honors Concert in Oak Ridge. She will be in the spotlight for “Exsultate, Jubilate” by Mozart, a press release said.

The orchestra will be led by conductor Dan Allcott, and the concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church. The church is at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Tulane Avenue.

The Baroque Bonanza concert is part of an Oak Ridge Civic Music Association concert series. [Read more…]

ORCMA: ‘Dialogue with Dan’ on Monday

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Dan Allcott

Dan Allcott

Music lovers can have lunch on Monday with Dan Allcott, director of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, and learn about the Feb. 15 concert.

“Dialogue with Dan” will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of the historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge. Allcott will discuss the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s concert featuring the music of Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi.

Those attending are encouraged to brown bag or to buy a sandwich from Panera for $8.