By John Tierney, correspondent
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Looking for a family-friendly way to introduce your children to orchestral music? Try the South Orange Symphony’s annual Family Concert on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. at South Orange Middle School, 70 N. Ridgewood Road. Admission is free.
The program is studded with familiar favorites and lively pieces for children and adults to enjoy equally.
“This is an ideal program for first-time concertgoers as well as for the orchestra,” conductor Susan Haig said. “These masterpieces by Strauss, Bizet, Humperdinck, Tchaikovsky, Rossini and John Williams convey emotion and high drama, and there is room for kids to move around if they’re inspired to dance!”
During the intermission, K&S Music from Berkeley Heights will provide an “Instrument Petting Zoo” where children and adults can look at and play orchestral instruments and maybe even get short hands-on lessons from some of the musicians. In the lobby, the seventh annual Silent Auction Fundraiser will have everything from home-baked pies to classy jewelry on offer to the highest bidder, as well as plenty of knickknacks that could be the perfect gift for those already-have-everything people.
The concert opens with the rousing “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss. The audience may not be able to resist clapping along with the music.
There are two selections from Georges Bizet’s spirited “Carmen Suites.” The “Danse Boheme,” or “Gypsy Dance,” portrays a group of gypsy musicians and young girls dancing. It starts at a measured pace but the flutes soon draw the audience in and set feet tapping faster and faster. Soprano Lori Mirabal, a Maplewood resident, music teacher at Kent Place School and international opera singer, will perform the famous, sultry “Habanera.”
The orchestra next plays the Prelude to Hansel and Gretel. Everyone knows the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, but fewer have heard of the opera version by Engelbert Humperdinck, a late 19th-century composer. Interestingly, Humperdinck worked with his sister, Adelheid Wette, on the opera. The first half finishes with selections from the finale of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Tchaikovsky characterizes it as “allegro con fuoco” — fast, with fire — and with good reason, for the movement is suffused with the fiery energy of Russian folk music.
Antonio Vivaldi’s “Concerto Grosso in D Minor” for two violins and cello features concertmaster Robert Radliff, principal second violinist Aurora Mendez and principal cellist Douglas Hardin. This concerto is exceptional in the way the solo lines engage in a musical repartee.
“The soloists and orchestra constantly interact with each other to highlight and echo the musical ideas presented by the soloists,” Mendez, a New York City native who plays professionally in a variety of chamber music ensembles, said.
Radliff earned a master’s degree in performance at Montclair State University and teaches at schools in Newark. He has performed in Carnegie Hall and plays regularly as a soloist with a variety of ensembles on the East Coast. Hardin, a retired computer specialist from AT&T Labs, also plays early period music on the viola da gamba.
Then there are selections from the John Williams’ “Star Wars” movie score. The somber “Yoda’s Theme” will be familiar to anyone who has seen some of the “Star Wars” movies, followed by parts of the main title theme.
Nearly everyone has surely heard bits and pieces of the “William Tell Overture,” especially its spirited finale, forever associated with the “Lone Ranger” TV show. Running approximately 14 minutes, it plays like a mini-symphony, with four continuous but distinct movements that evoke life in the Swiss Alps of the 13th century. It ranges from pastoral to the frenetic as Swiss soldiers march through the countryside. It opens with a short but soaring solo passage played by Hardin, who makes his cello sing as he spans more than six octaves. The other cellos and violas soon join in. A few moments later the full orchestra enters with a wickedly fast allegro movement.
The South Orange Symphony is a community-based ensemble, with 53 core members from all walks of life. Another eight or more area professionals participate in the orchestra’s three annual concerts.
“Most of our players have daytime jobs that have nothing to do with the arts. Our players are dedicated and motivated to come to rehearsal every week and always enjoy making music,” orchestra President Janet Poland said.
Members range in age from 11-year-old percussionist Avery Crafton to musicians well into their 70s. Some are amateurs who played in high school or college, then stopped for years or even decades before taking up their instrument again. Others are semiprofessional and professional caliber musicians who started young and never stopped. Often two or three Columbia High School students join when their study schedules allow.
The orchestra is always looking for new members. Contact Poland at [email protected] if you are interested.
The South Orange Symphony receives funding in part from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and administered by the Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs and matching gift funds from several New Jersey corporations. The balance of funding comes from individual donors.
Photos Courtesy of Innes Borstel
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