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 “Ï€ 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…]

Photo: Tennessee education commissioner speaks at ORHS Honors Night

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Candice McQueen at ORHS Honors Night May 23 2016

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen, left, speaks at the Oak Ridge High School Honors Night on Monday, May 23, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Oak Ridge High School celebrated the accomplishments of this year’s graduating senior class with Honors Night on Monday, May 23. The celebration was in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen spoke at the ORHS Honors Night. Here is a photo by Julio Culiat.

Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra has free family concert Sunday

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Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra Family Concert

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra has a free family concert on Sunday, January 31.

The concert was rescheduled because of the weather last week. It starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center (the ORHS auditorium).

The ORHS Chamber Orchestra will also play, and children will have a chance to participate in the instrument “petting zoo.”

An event flyer said the concert, “The Thrill of the Orchestra” concert, will feature music from “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park.” Cellist Jerry Zhou, winner of the 2015 Youth Aliyah Competition, will be a special guest. [Read more…]

Community Band concert on Sunday features music for adults, children

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Oak Ridge Community Band Spring Concert April 19, 2015

The Oak Ridge Community Band is directed by Dale Pendley in concert in April 2015 at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. (Submitted photo)

 

A concert by the Oak Ridge Community Band on Sunday will feature music for adults and children.

It’s the start of the new 2015-2016 series of indoor concerts, and it will open with the Children’s Concert scheduled for Sunday afternoon, October 11. The performance will begin at 3:30 p.m at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Along with the new season will come some new changes, a press release said. Tickets at the door will be only $5 per person for all adults over 18, and children through age 18 will be free.

In addition, the public will have the opportunity at the October 11 concert to purchase season member cards allowing admission to concerts held in October, November, January, February, and April for only $15 per person, which is a savings of the cost of tickets to two out of the five concerts listed above. [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…]

Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble has ‘New Millennium’ Concert

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The Oak Ridge Community Band has a “New Millennium” Concert this afternoon (Sunday afternoon).

It’s the last concert of the 2013-2014 subscription series before the outdoor concert season begins on Memorial Day, a press release said. Today’s concert starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Sunday’s concert promises to be both exciting and entertaining, a press release said. Special guests are members of the Oliver Springs High School Band and their director Tim Michaels, who is a current Community Band member. The OSHS band will perform two numbers, and Michaels will be soloist as he plays “Ode To Trumpet” accompanied by the Community Band. [Read more…]

ORCMA ‘Double Feature’ show on Saturday includes dinner, concert

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A “Double Feature” concert on Saturday will include favorite movie themes played by the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra.

It’s the orchestra’s final performance of the season, and it will feature conductor Dan Allcott directing music themes from “Gone with the Wind,” “Star Trek,” “007,” and much more, a press release said. The music starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

The orchestra’s Pop’s Concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association.

The concert will be preceded by a fundraising dinner that will benefit the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Concert series, the Oak Ridge Chorus, education outreach by ORCMA, and the Coffee Concerts. The dinner is sponsored by ORCMA, and it starts at 5:30 p.m. at the ORHS Performing Arts Center. [Read more…]

Holiday concert on Sunday features Oak Ridge Symphony, Chorus, Sound Company

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Sound Company Children's Performing Choir

The Sound Company Children’s Performing Choir of Oak Ridge is pictured above singing in an earlier concert. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will join Sound Company and the Oak Ridge Chorus to “ring in” the holiday season during a concert on Sunday.

The concert starts at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

The holiday concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association.

The orchestra, under the direction of Dan Allcott, will open the concert with the “Hanukah Festival Overture,” composed by Knoxville’s own Lucas Richman. Music from “Mass of the Children,” and “Colors of Christmas,” will feature the children and the civic choruses. The performance will be dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut last year. [Read more…]

ORCBA celebrates 50th season, Tchaikovsky

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ORCBA Logo

In recognition of its 50th season, the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association is celebrating Tchaikovsky, opening its season this weekend with the annual production of “The Nutcracker.”

The season will end in April with “Sleeping Beauty” and “Swan Lake.”

The University of Tennessee Chamber Orchestra will perform The Nutcracker this weekend with ORCBA.

“Don’t miss this unique opportunity to enjoy ballet performed with a live orchestra,” the association said. [Read more…]

Grammy-winning Oak Ridge bassist Edgar Meyer plays Saturday

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Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer, the world-renowned bassist and composer, will start this year’s ORCMA Chamber Music Season with a Saturday night performance.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Meyer grew up in Oak Ridge, where he learned to play the double bass when he was five. He was taught by his father, the late Edgar Meyer Sr., who directed the string orchestra program for the Oak Ridge Schools. Meyer later went on to Indiana University to study with Stuart Sankey.

“Meyer is noted for achieving virtuosity on an instrument of unusual technical difficulty, and has performed music originally composed for other instruments, such as Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites, which he recorded,” a press release said. “He has also composed a number of classical works, including two double bass concertos, a string quintet, a double concerto for bass and cello, and a violin concerto.” [Read more…]

‘Do the math’ about fossil fuels, global warming, activist says

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Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben

Since April 21, environmental activist Bill McKibben’s “Do the Math” movie has been shown around the nation and world. Its message is that catastrophic climate change looms large this century if fossil fuel use is not restricted.

In Oak Ridge, the movie has been shown several times at First Presbyterian Church, which is sponsoring McKibben’s lecture on Sunday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. The movie can be downloaded from McKibben’s grassroots organization www.350.org.

The author of two classics of environmental literature, “The End of Nature,” and “Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet,” McKibben had the movie made after 350.org’s successful “Do the Math” tour of cities last fall. “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math,” McKibben’s article a year ago in Rolling Stone magazine, inspired the tour. [Read more…]