Alma Symphony Orchestra Showcases ‘Billy the Kid’
Youth will be served when the Alma Symphony Orchestra performs
at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 in the Remick Heritage Center at Alma College.
The concert will showcase the winners of the Alma College Student
Concerto Competition, student conductor Justin Rito, and a performance
of Aaron Copland’s rousing “Billy the Kid.”
Tickets are $10 for adults and free for Alma College staff, students
and youth 18 and under. Seating is reserved. Call (989) 463-7304 for
ticket information.
“It’s always fun to feature some of our talented students,” says ASO
Conductor Murray Gross. “We hold the Student Concerto Competition every
other year. It’s a very competitive process in which the students
prepare their music and perform in front of a panel of judges.”
This year’s winners are Alma junior saxophonist Nathan Glitman, who
will perform Alexander Glazounov’s Saxophone Concerto in E flat Major
with the orchestra’s string section; and Tustin senior marimba player
Charles Rockwell, who will perform Ney Rosauro’s Marimba Concerto No. 2
with the full orchestra.
Grosse Ile senior Justin Rito will conduct the orchestra‘s wind section in Gordon Jacob’s “Old Wine in New Bottles.”
The full orchestra, under the direction of Gross, will open the concert
with Carl Nielson’s Suite from “Aladdin.” The concert closes with
Copland’s “Billy the Kid.”
“Copland is an American composer recognized for his western themed
pieces,” says Gross. “’Billy the Kid’ has lots of colorful sections,
including a gun battle and a night on the prairie. It’s a fun piece to
play.
“This will be a concert the entire family is sure to enjoy,” he says.
Celebrating its 48th season, the Alma Symphony Orchestra presents four
concerts each season that features the best of orchestral repertoire.
Gross is the 10th conductor of the ASO since it was founded in 1960.
Posted: Fri, February 1st, 2008 at 7:39AM
