Penfield Symphony Orchestra's "Americans in Paris" Concert

The Penfield Symphony Orchestra, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to enriching the Rochester community for more than 60 years, will present a concert, “Americans in Paris,” with an allusion to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. On May 13, 2024, the fourth concert of the PSO’s 68th season will be led by guest conductor Dr. Jared Chase, the fourth of our finalist candidates for the PSO’s open Music Director position. Dr. Chase is Associate Director of the School of Music at Nazareth University, Music Director of the New York State Ballet, and Music Director of First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford.

The concert will open with the famous stirring theme song of the Games, combining two pieces:  Leo Arnaud’s Bugler’s Dream and John Williams’s Olympic Fanfare and Theme. Then Julian Chumacero, violin, our Jo Amish Young Artist Competition Winner, will present the first movement, Andantino, from Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19.  Apollo, the Greek god of medicine, music, and poetry, is depicted in a movement from Peter Boyer’s Three Olympians, which uses extended string techniques to add interesting timbres.  Two evocative pieces from Lili Boulanger, D’un soir triste (Of a Sad Evening) and D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), close our exciting first half.

The magnificent, boisterous Fanfare from La Péri by Paul Dukas, which opens our second half, was originally used as an opener for the ballet La Péri (The Fairy).  Choirs from Nazareth University and Penfield High School will then join us in John Williams’s Hymn to the Fallen as we honor, on June 6, 2024, the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of World War II.  Concluding our concert is Gershwin’s An American in Paris, a jazz-inspired piece that, as Gershwin himself stated, “portrays the impressions of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city, listens to the various street noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere.”

This concert, which has received special support from a Monroe County Midsized Arts Grant, will be held on February 12, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Penfield High School Auditorium, located at 25 High School Drive in Penfield, New York.   Tickets can be purchased online at www.penfieldsymphony.org, by phone at 585-872-0774, and at the door on the night of the concert.  Tickets cost $15 for adults. For students of any age with a student ID, $1.  Group rates are available for parties of six or more.

The Penfield Symphony Orchestra is a 90-piece orchestra whose goal is to enrich the Rochester community by providing fine music in a setting where both amateur and professional musicians can perform a variety of classical repertoire. For information on concerts and highlights, follow the Penfield Symphony Orchestra on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PenfieldSymphonyOrchestra, or visit the website at http://www.penfieldsymphony.org.

Founded in 1955, the Penfield Symphony Orchestra (PSO) offers four classical music concerts per season to audiences of all ages. Amateur and professional musicians in the 90-piece orchestra enrich the Rochester community by providing fine classical, modern, and pops music. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the orchestra also sponsors an annual competition where young musicians audition to win recognition and an opportunity to solo with a symphony orchestra. Over its history, the PSO has commissioned many new works, and concerts have featured guest artists of local and national renown. The PSO Board of Directors and musicians are dedicated volunteers who are passionate about promoting arts and music and who, quite simply, like to make and perform great music together.