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January 11, 2007
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Time for the kids One of the area?s most compelling groups takes the stage this weekend. On Sunday, Jan. 21, the Greater Manchester Youth Symphony Orchestra presents its annual winter performance of classical music favorites. This isn?t just any school orchestra, but a group made up of the best high school age musicians in southern New Hampshire. And it?s no beginner?s group, either?it?s actually the senior ensemble of a multi-tiered youth orchestra program based at Manchester Community Music School. Under the direction of long-time conductor Ben Greene, the 65-member orchestra tackles some interesting pieces that range from familiar crowd-pleasers to worthy but lesser-heard music. Simplified scores are out?they only play the real things. Like any high school team, the Greater Manchester Youth Symphony Orchestra does go through peak periods and rebuilding years. Quite a few seniors graduated last year, but Greene says the orchestra continues to perform at a high level. Judge for yourself by attending the free concert this weekend at the music school. The program is a bouquet of great scores that orchestra has been rehearsing since fall. Among them: the lively overture to ?Ruslan and Lyudmila? by Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, the melodic Danse Bacchanale from the opera ?Samson and Delilah? by French composer Camille Saint-Sa?ns, and an arrangement of tunes taken from Leonard Bernstein?s ?West Side Story.? The concert also features a couple of talented students soloists. Violinist Eric Ho, a senior at Salem High School, will play to solo part in the first movement of Eduard Lalo?s brilliant Symphonie Espagnol. Also, oboist Tim Gocklin, a junior at Memorial High in Manchester, will solo in the the first movement of an oboe concerto by English composer Vaughn Williams. If you go, don?t be thrown by the army of parents with camcorders. You don?t have to have a student in the ensemble to enjoy some great music-making by students who are very serious about what they do. There?s nothing like it, and the price is right?it?s free. The Greater Manchester Youth Symphony will perform on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 3:30 p.m. at the Manchester Community Music School, 2291 Elm St., Manchester. For more info, call the school at 644-4548. ? World premiere in Concord: Friday, Jan. 12 saw the world premiere of a sonata for clarinet and piano by New Hampshire composer Roger Rudenstein. The four-movement piece, performed at the Concord Community Music School by clarinetist Stephanie Ratt? accompanied by Paul Dykstra, emerged as a well-constructed score that, frankly, was tough to assimilate in a single hearing. But clearly there?s a lot of good stuff in its pages, which are carried equally by clarinet and keyboard, allowing fair amount of drama comes through. The end, with Ratt? wailing away at full volume as the piano cuts out early, was especially effective. Still, the score?s priorities did not include easy listening, which makes the effectiveness of last Friday?s rendition all the more remarkable. Let?s hope Rudenstein?s work continues to find performers such as Ratt? and Dykstra, both of whom gave their all to bringing it to life for a small audience of several dozen people. It was a rare treat that I wish was a lot less rarer in these parts. |
12/28/2006 Classical countdown for '06
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