Po-Hi Orchestras to Present Spring Concert

The Chamber Strings orchestra will open the concert with five selections beginning with three selections by Soon Hee Newbold. A Knight’s Quest will open, one of the two contest pieces performed at the OSSAA Large Group District Orchestra Contest. The group earned a superior rating in both concert and sight-reading, on their way to the OSSAA Outstanding Achievement Award (highest award given for their category). This selection captures the medieval spirit with a contemporary sound. Next up will be North Star to Freedom (In Honor of the Underground Railroad). Slaves in the South followed the North Star to various safe houses and stops to reach the North for their freedom. The Newbold portion of the concert will close with Blue-Fire Fiddler. Folk music is an integral part of our culture and history and this selection was written for the fiddler in all of us.

Richard Meyer will be the featured composer for the next two selections. The Symphony Strings will join the Chamber Strings for these pieces. First will be Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space, a highly original tribute to the monster-movie soundtracks of the 1950s. This portion of the concert will close with The Idylls of Pegasus, depicting the adventures of the wondrous winged horse of Greek mythology.

The 2014 OSSAA Sweepstakes Award winning Symphony Orchestra takes to the stage next. They will open with Overture to Egmont by Ludwig van Beethoven. The subject of the music is the life and heroism of 16th-century Dutch nobleman, the Count of Egmont. Beethoven expressed his political concerns through the music exaltation of the heroic sacrifice of a man condemned to death for having taken a stand against oppression.

Six seniors in the orchestra will be featured with solos on this concert. They are Abby Todd performing the Chanson Triste by Peter I. Tschaikovsky, Jennifer Benton on Pavane for a Dead Princess by Maurice Ravel for horn and strings (arrangement by Ryan Lipscomb), and Karina Heidlage performing Elegie for Cello and Orchestra by Gabriel Faure. T.J. Partin will be featured on marimba with Memories of the Sea Shore by Keiko Abe.

The other two soloists will be performing works by John Williams, noted composer and conductor. Two-year concertmaster Mackenzie Pruett will be performing the gorgeous violin solo from Theme from Schindler’s List, as arranged by Robert Longfield. All-State band member and principal clarinetist Benjamin Southard will be performing the clarinet solo to Viktor’s Tale from the Motion Picture The Terminal.

Four other orchestra selections are being presented on this spring concert. Two of them are string selections. The first one is On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss by David Holcombe. The work is based on the beautiful hymn It is Well with My Soul by Horatio Spafford and Philip Bliss. The other piece will be Music from Frozen by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, arranged by Robert Longfield. This work includes the songs Do You Want to Build a Snowman, Let It Go, and For the First Time in Forever.

The Symphony Orchestra will perform the remaining two works. Millennium by Richard Meyer is one of the contest selections performed at OSSAA State Orchestra contest that earned the group the coveted OSSAA Sweepstakes Award. Bringing the concert to a close will be Symphonic Highlights from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Included in this medley is Singapore, I See Dead People in Boats, Up Is Down, and Drink Up Me Hearties.

Recognition of senior musicians and their parents will also be done during the program. The Symphony Orchestra has 24 senior members this year, of which 15 are string musicians. The community is cordially invited to the last performance to be given by this award-winning group of musicians. There is no admission charge to the event.