The Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra will present its 20th Anniversary Season Finale Concert at Veronica Hagman Hall in the Visual & Performing Arts Center of Western Connecticut State University, (Westside Campus) in Danbury, CT on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 4:00PM.
The concert will feature the WCYO String Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra and include a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary concert music.
The String Orchestra, conducted by Joanna Giordano, will open the concert with a musical showcase of various moments in American music history with Blue Fire Fiddler by Soon Hee Newbold, two movements from Serenade for Strings by Norman Leyden, and conclude with jazz standard It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills. Ms. Giordano will then hand over the baton to Wind Ensemble Conductor Albert Montecalvo as the Wind Ensemble joins the String Orchestra for a combined performance of Warrior Legacy, concluding a lively opening to this celebratory concert event and cross-ensemble collaboration “these musicians have greatly enjoyed,” according to Ms. Giordano.
The Wind Ensemble will then perform Encanto, “a musical appetizer” to what Mr. Montecalvo refers to as the “main entree” - the beautiful Warren Barker arrangement of three works by George Gershwin. The Symphonic Gershwin features themes from Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and Cuban Overture - straddling classical, modern, jazz, blues and popular styles.
Prior to intermission, WCYO will recognize its senior class and present its annual $1,000 College Scholarship, awarded based on a music-themed essay contest judged by its Board of Directors.
In the final performance of the afternoon, the WCYO Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Eric Mahl, will present Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. Five. Composed in 1888, and considered one of the great orchestral masterworks and a pinnacle of the Romantic Era, Tchaikovsky employed the use of a recurring theme that returns throughout the entirety of the symphony. These “pillars of sound that we can latch onto as listeners,” as described by Mr. Mahl, “guide us through this epic narrative about overcoming - about the greatness of joy, and of finding hope even in the darkest of times.”
“We acknowledge each and every talented and dedicated youth musician
who has participated in a WCYO ensemble since the organization's inception. They are
the legacy of the WCYO!” said WCYO Executive Director, Ruth Feldman. “We will take this occasion to celebrate our notable past, while also looking forward to the exciting future of the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra!”
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students/seniors and may be purchased at the event or online via WCSU’s box office, linked here.
Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra is non-profit youth orchestra program based in Ridgefield, CT and provides advanced music performance opportunities to youth musicians from more than 20 towns in the surrounding Connecticut and New York communities .
To learn more about the WCYO or to schedule an audition, please visit wctyo.org or call 203-894-8786.