WOODSTOCK CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OFFERS CONCERT AT BARD COLLEGE ON NOVEMBER 12 Program features works by Beethoven, Morton Gould, Carl Maria von Weber, and a world premiere by Loren Lentz

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard Center presents the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra (WCO) on Friday, November 12. The program, conducted by David Leighton, will begin at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall. This season the WCO is auditioning conductors for music director, a position left vacant by the retirement of longtime Bard faculty member Luis Garcia-Renart. Admission to the concert is $12 for adults; students, children, and Bard faculty and staff are admitted without charge. The program includes Morton Gould’s American Salute; Carl Maria von Weber’s Concerto for Bassoon in F Major, with soloist Elisabeth Romano; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2; and the world premiere of Loren Lentz’s Suite for America, performed with jazz combo and orchestra. (This program will be repeated on Saturday, November 6, at 8:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Kingston; and on Sunday, November 7, at 3:00 p.m. at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.) The WCO’s 2004–05 spring season at Bard’s Olin Hall will begin on March 23, at 8:00 p.m., with a program of works by Beethoven and Handel. The vocal ensemble Ars Choralis will join the orchestra. (The performance will be repeated on Saturday, March 19, at 8:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Kingston; and on Sunday, March 20, at 3:00 p.m. at the Reformed Church in Saugerties.) The final concert of the season will be held on April 27, at 8:00 p.m., and will feature works by Beethoven and a world premiere by Suzanne Sorkin. (Additional performances will be on Saturday, April 23, at 8:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Kingston; and on Sunday, April 24 at 3:00 p.m. at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.) These concerts are made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and through the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and the Leon Levy Endowment at Bard College. For further information or to order tickets, call the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra at 845-246-7045. ABOUT THE ARTISTS The WCO, formed in 1980 by musicians from the Woodstock area, has expanded over the years and now comprises 38 professional musicians from the entire Hudson Valley. The WCO regularly commissions and performs music by local and regional composers. Each season it gives approximately 14 performances in Woodstock, Kingston, and Saugerties, and at Bard College. Elisabeth Romano has played bassoon with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Toledo Symphony, and Con Spirito Woodwind Quintet. She maintains a busy schedule teaching at Bard, Vassar, and Marist Colleges and performing with groups such as the Albany Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, and Mistral Wind Trio. Romano is also a music therapist and certified Kindermusik instructor; she resides in the New Paltz area. The guest conductor for this concert, David Leighton, has appeared with the Dallas Opera, Nashville Opera, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Anhaltisches Theater, Dessau, Germany. He has also toured as a concert pianist throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East, and produced opera and concerts for the Bauhaus and Operaworks. Leighton graduated from the University of Minnesota at age 19 and received a master’s degree in piano from The Juilliard School two years later. He was only 22 when Rafael Kubelik invited him to join the Metropolitan Opera, where he remained for 10 years as assistant conductor and was a featured performer on Texaco’s Opera Quiz. As a concert accompanist he has performed with singers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Robert Merrill, and Leontyne Price. # # # (10/21/04)

This event was last updated on 10-27-2004

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