Orchestra

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - The Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra will present a spring concert Wednesday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at Shepherd College's Frank Center for the Creative Arts. The group is under the direction of Anne Munro and Mark McCoy of Shepherd College. Shepherd College student conductor Mark Albright also will conduct part of the program. Music will include compositions by Mozart, Britten, Copland, Grieg, Handel, Haydn and Ippolitov-Ivanov. Violinists Matthew and Michael Polanchak will be the soloists for "Entrance of the Queen of Sheba" by George Frederic Handel.

The public is invited to enjoy a free concert by the Hagerstown Community College Guitar Orchestra on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in HCC's Classroom Building auditorium. The orchestra and soloists will perform a variety of works, including selections by Bach, Villa Lobos, Andrew York, Derek Hasted and others. The HCC Guitar Orchestra is comprised of students and hobbyists of all ages and stylistic preferences who find common ground in classical guitar technique and ensemble repertoire.

An anonymous donor has given Boonsboro High School $10,500, which will be used to help the band and orchestra programs, a school system official said. The Washington County Board of Education voted unanimously on Feb. 7 to accept the donation. School Board President Wayne Ridenour thanked the unnamed donor. Rick Akers, secondary education director for Washington County Public Schools, said $8,000 of the donation will go to buy instruments and music for the band. The remaining $2,500 will go to the orchestra to pay for field trips, instruments, instrument repairs and music, according to an online video of the school board meeting.

tammyb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - This weekend's Maryland Symphony Orchestra MasterWorks V concerts, the final programs of the current season, were nearly sold out. The MSO Guild sponsored a pre-concert wine-tasting as a way to attract patrons. The concerts, featuring the music of Gershwin and Ravel - and guest pianist Jeffrey Biegel - promised to complete the orchestra's season in fine form. But in quiet conversations before Saturday's program, MSO staff spoke in anxious tones about their orchestra manager, Sharon Buck-Ahrens, critically injured Thursday in a head-on collision on Interstate 70 near Beaver Creek.

By TERI JOHNSON Staff Writer The cello has tugged at Jess Price's heartstrings since she was in fourth grade, and she's glad she started playing at such a young age. The Smithsburg High School junior worries that cuts in school music programs will hinder budding players. "As a musician, it breaks my heart," she says. Students in Washington County schools now start playing instruments in sixth grade instead of fourth grade, and she believes missing those two years will make a big difference.

Saturday, May 4, 8 p.m. Sunday, May 5, 3 p.m. Frank Arts Center Theater Shepherd College Shepherdstown, W.Va. Tickets cost $10; $5 for Shepherd College faculty and staff; free for students For reservations and information, call 1-304-876-5371

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - The Shepherd Preparatory Orchestra program, under the direction of Anne Munro and Mark McCoy, is in its ninth season at Shepherd University. The group is comprised of middle and high School wind and string students from Washington County, and Berkeley and Jefferson counties in West Virginia. The orchestra meets Wednesday evenings for rehearsals and presents two concerts during the school year. Enrollment is open and based on an audition process. There is a modest tuition fee per semester to participate.

When: Sunday, March 16; doors open at 1:30 p.m. Where: North Hagerstown High School auditorium, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., Hagerstown Details: One hundred thirty orchestra students, 89 band students and 25 jazz band students will perform, says Mary Ellen Cohn, Maryland Music Educators Association festival director. They will be rehearsing Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15, at Ramada Inn in Hagerstown. The Sunday concerts are free. The Senior All State Orchestra performs at 2 p.m. and will be directed by Dr. Robert McCashin of James Madison University.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra will present the Smithsburg High School Jazz Band for the November Kinder Konzerts in Hagerstown on Thursday morning. The Smithsburg jazz group will perform at 9 a.m. and 10:30 am. The free performances will be held at Kepler Theater at Hagerstown Community College. The MSO Kinder Konzerts are offered throughout the school year. The next concert will be Jan. 17, featuring the MSO Brass Quintet. For any questions, call the MSO at 301-797-4000.

Maryland Symphony Orchestra Music Director Elizabeth Schulze has been artistic director and conductor of the Flagstaff (Ariz.) Symphony Orchestra since the fall of 2008. Earlier this month, Schulze learned that she is the winner of the first Sorel Medallion in Conducting from The Elizabeth & Michel Sorel Charitable Organization Inc. In the organization's board of directors' announcement, Schulze was cited for the work she displayed in the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM)

Sunday's performance by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra had a decidedly different sound to it as the group offered its rendition of music from “West Side Story.” Among the highlights was the emphasis on percussion, and the instruments were varied. There was a rainstick, which simulated falling rain, and another instrument that was meant to re-create the sound of thunder. “You will hear a lot of sounds you would hear in nature,” Maryland Symphony Orchestra percussionist Julie Boehler told a crowd before Sunday's show.

“Could it be? Yes, it could. Something's coming, something good, If I can wait!” The wait will not be long. “Something” is coming this weekend. The words are Stephen Sondheim's in “Something's Coming,” Tony's anticipatory song in “West Side Story.” Those lyrics also anticipate “Orchestral Dances,” the final masterworks concert of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra's 31st season. “The whole orchestra is in the spotlight for this concert,” wrote Music Director Elizabeth Schulze in an email.

Orange and red are in style this season, including together, according to one of the mistresses of ceremonies for Sunday's Fashion in the Know show at Fountain Head Country Club. Women modeled fashions from Lena's of Hagerstown and Aspire, a women's clothing boutique in Frederick, Md. In addition to clothes, handbags and jewelry were highlighted. “Love both of the boutiques,” said Kathy Tierney, who sat at one of the back tables watching the models strut on the runway before walking through the crowd of tables.

So picture this: You go to the movies and there is no soundtrack accompanying the film. No music to set the scenes, to enhance the moods, to heighten the suspense. Do you think the impact would be the same as if there were a musical score to guide you from plot point to plot point, from emotional lows to highs, from nerve-wracking action to calm? Not likely. If you have seen any of these films - "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Jaws," "War Horse," "Jurassic Park," "Hook," "JFK," "Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Last Ark" and "Star Wars" - try to imagine what the experience might have been without their music.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra will present "A Night at the Opera" this weekend at The Maryland Theatre. A warning label might be in order: This is not your father's "Night at the Opera. " Yes, selections from some of the most beloved and well-known operas will be performed. These will include "La donna e mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto," "Dunque io son" from "The Barber of Seville" by Gioacchino Rossini, "Non so piu cosa son" from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Pres: des remparts de Seville" from "Carmen" by Georges Bizet.

Russian-born pianist Vassily Primakov said playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music is challenging, especially considering the type of piano the composer used. Primakov said Mozart's piano would have weighed between 100 and 150 pounds when Mozart composed his Concerto for Piano No. 27 in B-flat Major. The Steinway piano Primakov played Sunday afternoon at The Maryland Theatre weighed about 900 pounds. Primakov said the weight difference between the two pianos means Primakov has to impose a lot of control over his instrument to get Mozart's sound.

Today is Valentine's Day. Love will be celebrated far and wide. And the Maryland Symphony Orchestra invites you to feel the love this weekend at The Maryland Theatre. The MSO will pay homage to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during its 31st season's third masterworks concert, "For the Love of Mozart. " The program includes Frank Martin's Ouverture en hommage à Mozart, Robert Schumann's "Carnaval," Op. 9 and Symphony No. 4 in D minor and Mozart's Concerto for Piano No. 27 in B-flat Major.

Washington County Public Schools will present the 2013 Elementary Arts Festival Thursday, Feb. 7, at South Hagerstown High School.  The festival will feature selected elementary students from around the county in band, orchestra and visual art. There will be elementary artwork on display in the South High lobby.  The orchestra and band performances will start at 7 p.m. The artwork will be ready for display by 6:30 p.m. The orchestra...

It is an “intense orchestral experience,” Marianne Gooding said. Each year, teachers from Washington County Public Schools select middle- and high-school students for all-county orchestra based on merit, including quality and experience playing. Those chosen are responsible for learning and refining pieces frequently at a level beyond that which they normally play in school, she said. They compete in seating auditions, then rehearse as a group two evenings, one school day and a Saturday morning.