Oak Ridge Today

Community Orchestra has open rehearsal at Secret City Festival on Saturday—you are invited to play

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra at Secret City Festival 2014

The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra performs at the Secret City Festival in 2014. (Submitted photo)

 

You have a chance to play with a symphonic orchestra on Saturday, when the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra has an open rehearsal at the Secret City Festival.

The open rehearsal is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 11.

“This means you can show up unannounced, with your instrument and music stand, slide into a vacant chair, and play along on any pieces you like,” a press release said. “Because it is a rehearsal atmosphere, you will not feel pressured to crank out a stellar performance.”

Why does the ORCO offer an open rehearsal?

“We have two motivations,” the press release said. “Often, people who sample playing in the orchestra decide they like it, and join ORCO to continue their enjoyment, while augmenting their experience and musical skills. For accomplished students, it offers an opportunity to find out what it is like to play in an ensemble populated with strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. [Read more…]

Festive Italian music featured in Aug. 29 ORCO concert

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Marcelo Urias

Marcelo Urias

By Dale Gedcke

The mystery maestro can now be revealed. The new conductor and music director for the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra is Marcelo Urias.

Those long familiar with the ORCO will recall that Urias was an enthusiastic conductor of the orchestra from February 2009 through September 2010. In the meantime, he was working diligently on a doctorate in choral conducting, which he received from the Indiana University School of Music in 2014.

Now, he has returned to build an exciting program of music that everyone is going to enjoy. Uriah maintains strong roots in the area, with full-time employment as music director at the Cokesbury United Methodist Church in West Knoxville.

For a free concert on Saturday, August 29, Maestro Marcelo has programmed the energetic “Roman Carnival Overture” by Berlioz and the vibrant “Capriccio Italienne” by Tchaikovsky.

In addition, he has arranged a surprise bonus of famous and fabulous opera arias sung by April Hill, Kathryn Marvel, Taylor Stone, and Ryan Colbert.  Their performances will be the “whipped cream and cherry on top of the banana-split sundae.” This will be a flavorful program to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon. [Read more…]

ORCO Concert on Saturday: A Faun, a River, a Rhapsody, and a Tragic Overture

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Violins ORCO March 2015 Concert

Violins form the front line in the March 2015 Oak Ridge Community Orchestra concert. (Photo by Nancy Cosgrove)

 

A free concert by the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra on Saturday, May 16, will feature Will Burkhart conducting the poetic “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” by Claude Debussy, the strikingly descriptive “Moldau” by BedÅ™ich Smetana, the lyrical “Romanian Rhapsody No. 2” by Georges Enescu, and the turbulent “Tragic Overture” by Johannes Brahms.

“This is a great program to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon,” a press release said.

When “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) premiered in 1894, it was recognized as an historic change, launching the modern music style. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Orchestra plays at Dogwood Arts Festival on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra

The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Performing at the 2014 Dogwoods Arts Festival. (Photo courtesy of John Fairstein)

 

Daniel Webb

Daniel Webb

As part of the Dogwood Arts Festival, the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra will be performing famous and memorable music in Knoxville’s Market Square from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

The free concert will feature the lively “Figaro Aria” sung by Daniel Webb, the emphatic fourth movement from the “New World Symphony” by Dvořák, the raucous “Polovtsian Dances” by Borodin, and the hand-clapping “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss (Sr.).  This is a great way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon while browsing the shops at the Dogwoods Arts Festival.

The “Barber of Seville” is a familiar opera by Gioachino Antonio Rossini, premiering in 1816. The most famous aria from that opera is probably “Largo al Factotum,” in which the central figure, Figaro, vigorously touts his prowess as a barber and local facilitator of “everything.” The articulation and style in this aria are so impressive that Warner Brothers, Walter Lantz, and Hanna Barbera studios couldn’t resist featuring it in cartoon parodies. [Read more…]

Concert debut: Lefkowitz conducts ORCO in Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, Sibelius

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Gabriel Lefkowitz

Gabriel Lefkowitz

New Music Director Gabriel Lefkowitz will conduct the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra in September performances of compositions by Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, and Sibelius.

During the September 13 concert, the orchestra will play the “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture” by Tchaikovsky, “Adagio from Spartacus” by Khachaturian, and “The Karelia Suite” by Sibelius, a press release said.

“This is some of the finest orchestra music one can listen to,” the release said.

The free ORCO concert will be performed in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge at 2 p.m. Saturday, September 13. It will be Lefkowitz’s debut with the ORCO as music director and conductor. [Read more…]

Community Orchestra performs at Secret City Festival on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra at the Secret City Festival

The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra performs at the 2013 Secret City Festival. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

While you attend the Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge on Saturday morning, stop by the pavilion and listen to the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra from 11:15 to 11:45 am. It’s free entertainment.

You will enjoy the program of popular renditions: music from the movies with highlights from “Jurassic Park” and “The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Rings),” jazz from the big band era in A Salute to the Big Bands, and favorite Broadway hits in Curtain Up!

A Salute to the Big Bands includes memorable melodies such as “April in Paris,” “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” “Pennsylvania Six-Five-Thousand,” “Serenade in Blue,” and “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

Curtain Up features the famous Broadway tunes “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “If He Walked Into My Life,” “One,” “The Phantom Of The Opera,” and that rousing chorus, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” [Read more…]

Experience the majestic Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony in Saturday concert

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Strings

String players in the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra are pictured above. (Photo courtesy of Travis Witherington) 

 

By Dale Gedcke

Don’t miss the majestic “Symphony No. 3 with Organ” by Saint-Saëns, performed by the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra at 2 p.m. Saturday May 17, in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church. This is probably the most impressive symphony that one can find. It is unique because of the dominant role played by the organ, especially in the finale, where it builds the foundation for a glorious finish.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921) composed his third symphony at the pinnacle of his career when he was in his early 50s. The story of his life is as remarkable as the content of this symphony. Trained on the piano from a very early age, his first public performance came at the age of five, when he accompanied a Beethoven violin sonata. At 10, he played his first public recital, featuring works by Handel, Kalkbrenner, Hummel, and Bach. As an encore, Saint-Saëns offered to play any of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from memory. [Read more…]