LANCASTER—The Northern Neck Orchestra will conclude its 30th season with Felix Mendelssohn’s legendary Violin Concerto, featuring Moises Cunha, the orchestra’s concertmaster and principal violinist, and William Grant Still’s landmark Symphony No. 1.
The concert will be performed on May 13 at the Lancaster Middle School Theater, 191 School Street, Kilmarnock; and May 14 at the Northumberland High School Theater, 201 Academic Lane, Claraville. Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is by season subscription or $36 for individual performances. Students are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased www.northernneckorchestra.org or the box office.
The concert will begin with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, which was completed in 1844, three years before the composer’s death at age 38.
“This beloved work has been described as lush, rapturous and a jewel of the genre,” said music director Michael Repper. “From its beautiful opening theme through its breakneck climax, the composition is as challenging for the violinist as it is a joy for the audience.”
The concerto will showcase the exceptional skills of soloist Cunha, he said.
“We are truly fortunate to have our own virtuoso violinist, Moises Cunha, perform the concerto,” Repper said. “I know he will dazzle and delight concertgoers with his remarkable talent, electric energy and irrepressible spirit”.
The concert concludes with William Grant Still’s powerful Symphony No. 1. Called the dean of African-American composers, he composed more than 150 works, including symphonies, operas and other pieces.
Still’s Symphony No. 1, also known as his Afro-American Symphony, is the first symphony written by an African-American and performed by a leading American orchestra when premiered in 1931 by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
He made history again as the first African-American conductor of a major symphony orchestra when he led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of the symphony in 1936.
Still brilliantly melds traditional European symphonic structure and African-American musical traditions, with jazz, blues and spiritual components forming the basis of the score, said Repper.
The symphony should be a cornerstone of regular orchestral programming, he observed. “It’s a fun piece to play and hear; there’s even a banjo!” Repper said. “The performance will be a delightful way to round out the orchestra’s 30th season.”
