Excelsior Symphony Orchestra, in the 250th year of American independence, presents its Spring Concert: Celebrating American Music! on Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Diller Hall in Hackley School’s Allen Center for the Creative Arts and Technology in Tarrytown. Guest Conductor Teresa Cheung leads a program that reflects all the colors of the American soul.
Morton Gould’s “American Salute” uses the melody “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” for a salute to America’s World War II allies. Charles Ives’ “Variations on ‘America’” presents that familiar piece in an entirely new way, as only Ives’ imagination could invent.
African-American composers are well-represented on the program. ESO performs W.C. Handy’s swinging “St. Louis Blues,” Florence Price’s soulful “Concert Overture No. 2” and William Grant Still’s blues-haunted “Afro-American Symphony.”
ESO’s late Music Director, William Eckfeld, composed “Fanfare for Hackley” for brass choir, in honor of the orchestra’s participation in Diller Hall’s inaugural season.
For more information on the program, Dr. Joshua Berrett’s concert notes, and ticket purchasing information, go to www.excelsiorso.org. Tickets are $30/adults, $10/high school and college students, free/under age 14.
Music education and student mentorship are essential to ESO’s mission, and the orchestra has forged a close partnership with Hackley School for several years, holding open rehearsals for the school community and educational events such as “Meet the Orchestra” and “Passport to Performance.” The orchestra is proud to participate in Diller Hall’s inaugural performance season.
ESO has been performing masterworks of the classical repertoire and premieres of new work to audiences throughout Westchester since 2002. Its members are professional and avocational musicians. The orchestra regularly performs concerts in the spring, fall and winter.
