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August 16, 2007
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Filling the gap A newly created symphony orchestra aims to fill a classical music gap in the state’s largest city starting this fall. Dubbed the Palace Festival Orchestra, the new ensemble came together following the shutdown of the Manchester-based New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra earlier this year. The new orchestra, led by local conductor Robert C. Babb, will play a series of Sunday afternoon concerts at Manchester’s Palace Theatre. First up is a “Beethoven at his Best” program set for Sunday, Sept. 30, at 4 p.m. Babb, who also leads the Concord-based Granite State Symphony Orchestra, will lead a program that includes Beethoven’s epic “Eroica” Symphony No. 3 and the Piano Concerto No. 2. The plan calls for the group to feature local talent as much as possible; to that end, soloist for the concerto is Manchester-based concert pianist George Lopez. The Palace Festival Orchestra was initiated by Peter Ramsey, the theater’s executive director, to ensure that classical music would have a strong presence at the facility. The Palace is already home to the New Hampshire Philharmonic, an acclaimed community orchestra that performs several concerts each season under the direction of conductor Anthony Princiotti. The new Palace Festival orchestra, made up of professional freelance players, is a separate in-house group that will round out the schedule. Though time is short to get the first season off the ground, Ramsey and Babb feel there’s a great potential for the orchestra to find an audience and be an arts flagship for the community. Programming for the remainder of the season hasn’t been announced yet, but will include a mix of classical and pops concerts. Babb is enthusiastic at bringing the orchestra to life. “From my perspective, there’s going to be no limit to what this orchestra is capable of doing,” Babb said. Babb also said he intends to be visible in the community. “I will be seen around town in many different places very often,” he said. Among the goals is to keep ticket prices reasonable, “which has been one of my goals forever,” Babb said. The first concert of the Palace Festival Orchestra is Sunday, Sept. 30, at 4 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester. Tickets are $25 to $40, children $15. A four-concert series subscription is available for $25 per ticket. For info, call the Palace Theatre box office at 668-5588 or visit www.palacetheatre.org.
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8/9/2007 Like Tanglewood, but smaller 8/2/2007 Classical dog days
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