The talented musicians, composers and performers of the Erie Chamber Orchestra will be on display during their eighth concert of the season Saturday.
A total of four musical pieces will be performed during the showcase: “Sinfonia Concertante, K. 297” by Mozart, “The Lark Ascending” by Vaughan Williams, “Symphony No. 5, D. 485” by Franz Schubert and “Stars Alone” by Christina Dolanc.
The production will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be hosted by the First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, located on West Seventh Street.
The concert, titled “ECO on Display,” will be free and open to the public, fulfilling the ECO mission of “ensur[ing] that everyone has access to high quality classical music regardless of their age, income, education or cultural background.”
Dolanc, award-winning Erie composer and ECO violinist, was commissioned to write the piece “Stars Alone” exclusively for the Erie Chamber Orchestra and the Erie Renaissance Singers.
She has been working on the piece for nearly a year.
Other ECO performers have been preparing their solos for a month or two and the rest of the orchestra has been practicing their parts on their own for around a month.
The orchestra will rehearse together three times before the performance Saturday.
Saturday’s performance will be conducted by Matthew Kraemer.
Musical adaptations will be executed by a group of five artists: ECO Concertmaster Maureen Conlon (violin), Hilary Philipp (oboe), Geoffrey Wands (bassoon), and Chris Rapier (horn).
Vocal accompaniment will be provided by the Erie Renaissance Singers, under choral direction of Steven A. Woods.
Daria Binkowski, general manager of the Erie Chamber Orchestra, said “ECO on Display” would give audience members a unique perspective they may not have had the chance to experience during this concert season.
“Many of our audience members are familiar with the ECO, but they haven’t necessarily heard her musicians play individually,” she said.
“This concert is a great chance to get to know the ECO a little better, as our orchestra members are the soloists for this concert. I also think [the audience is] really going to enjoy Christina’s new work for chorus and orchestra, especially in a wonderful setting such as Church of the Covenant.”
Following ECO on Display, the Erie Chamber Orchestra’s 38th season will conclude on June 4 with a performance titled “Jazz from Paris to Hollywood.”
The night will spotlight jazz music, featuring “Suite” from “Threepenny Opera,” “La Creation du monde, op. 81a” from “The Creation of the World” as well as Benny Goodman selections.
KATE ROBB
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