New season for Poway Symphony
The Poway Community Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2007-2008 concert program, its fourth at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.
The orchestra has grown both in numbers and musical sophistication since its founding in 2004 and will offer three concerts in the series.
Performances will take place on Oct. 21, Feb. 18 and May 25 at PCPA, 15498 Espola Road.
“We’re at a much higher level musically than we were three years ago when we first started and because of that, we can play music that is much more demanding and challenging, and that’s what brings many of the newer players from this area and outside this area to our community orchestra,” said orchestra founder, manager and concert master Ulli Reiner. Reiner also performs in the orchestra and will play a violin solo with orchestra member Roger Pine, who has performed with the group since its inception. Both Reiner and Pine will also be featured in a concerto written by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The symphony has grown to include 60 musicians age 18 and older, from beginners to seasoned music instructors, who are brought together through a class offered by the Poway Unified School District Adult Evening School.
The class meets on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 at Bernardo Heights Middle School. The weekly meetings bring music lovers together to perform quality classical music for the general public.
“(The orchestra is) open to any musician who wishes to share with other adults the passion for music-making and to have a great time with each other,” Reiner said. “Because there’s a great feeling of camaraderie toward each other, which is fairly typical when you belong to an ensemble.”
Orchestra conductor Branden Muresan selects the compositions to be performed at each show and attempts to tailor the program to the audience’s tastes.
“He spends a great deal of time outside deciding what the community members want and what the orchestra members would like to play,” Reiner said of Muresan. “It’s also based on his previous experience too, and he chooses pieces he loves to conduct and that we like to play,” Reiner said.
The season will open at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21, with a program including the “Academic Fest Overture” by Brahms, a rendition of joyful student songs orchestrated for the full symphony, followed by the Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor by Bach. The performance will close with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
The winter concert on Feb. 18 will have a Mexican and Spanish flair to it with Aaron Copland’s “El Salon Mexico” and Bizet’s “Carmen” Suites No. 1 and No. 2. The symphony will also perform “Concierto di Aranjuez” by J. Rodigo.
The May 25 performance will be dedicated to a variety of works composed by American composers Copland and Gershwin.
Performances are free to the public with donations welcome to defray costs. For more information, visit the Poway Community Symphony Orchestra Web site at www.powaysymphony.org.