The 91自拍论坛 Orchestra is one of only three ensembles, and one of only two from the United States, chosen to perform in the culminating Evening Showcase Concert in Carnegie Hall during the 19th annual New York International Music Festival running Saturday鈥揥ednesday, April 5鈥�9.
The concert on April 8 will feature the Hope orchestra along with the Fresno State Wind Orchestra and the Jong Strijkers (Youth Strings) Nederland, a youth orchestra from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
鈥淚t is a great honor for our orchestra to be selected as one of the three showcase ensembles performing at Carnegie Hall,鈥� said Sam Pang, who directs the 85-member Hope College Orchestra and is an assistant professor of music instruction at the college. 鈥淲e are a community that isn鈥檛 afraid of dreaming big. We dream together. We work hard together. And we thank the Lord that we are reaping good results from our hard work.鈥�
Presented by World Projects Corporation, the is open to all performing ensembles (bands, orchestras and choirs), but admits only two collegiate-level showcase ensembles and six high school ensembles each year, all chosen through audition. For the high school groups, the festival includes an instructional clinic, an outdoor concert and competition through an adjudicated afternoon concert at Carnegie Hall. The showcase groups each present an outdoor concert in addition to being featured during the closing evening event.
In Carnegie Hall, the ensembles will perform on the Ronald O. Perelman Stage of the 2,790-seat Isaac Stern Auditorium. The outdoor performance venues will be weather-dependent, but potential locations include Central Park, Bryant Park or Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Please visit the college鈥檚 for student reflections on participation in the orchestra and a behind-the-scenes look at how the group鈥檚 Carnegie Hall concert program was planned
Running a fast-paced 45 minutes, the Hope orchestra鈥檚 April 8 performance is titled 鈥淭he Symphonic Story of Hope.鈥� Reflecting the themes and selections of the orchestra鈥檚 spring 2024 and fall 2024 concerts at Hope, the program will feature seven works arranged to reflect the journey from earthly concerns to salvation through Christ.
鈥淲e as humans want to progress and develop, but we also make a lot of mistakes,鈥� Pang said. 鈥淎s culture develops, sin also develops. But, as dark as things might be, there鈥檚 redemption and victory at the very end.鈥�
The orchestra will open its evening performance with the fourth movement of Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k鈥檚 Symphony No. 9, which premiered in the same auditorium on Dec. 16, 1893. Known also as 鈥淔rom the New World,鈥� the work was inspired by the American landscape and American folk music during the composer鈥檚 time in the U.S.
The program will continue with 鈥淟iebesleid鈥� (Love鈥檚 Sorrow), by Fritz Kreisler; 鈥淭heme to Schindler鈥檚 List,鈥� by John Williams; a cello and oboe duet version of 鈥淕abriel鈥檚 Oboe,鈥� the main theme of the film 鈥淭he Mission,鈥� by Ennio Morricone; 鈥淥 Magnum Mysterium鈥� (O Great Mystery), by Morten Lauridsen, arranged for orchestra by Pang; the hymn 鈥淎ll the Way My Savior Leads Me,鈥� by Fanny Crosby, arranged for orchestra by Pang; and the finale of Symphony No. 3 (鈥淥rgan Symphony鈥�), by Camille Saint-Sa褢ns.
The performance of 鈥淎ll the Way My Savior Leads Me鈥� is being dedicated in memory of orchestra member Jennifer Kasunick, a Hope sophomore and violinist who died on Saturday, Jan. 11, of injuries sustained when she was struck by a train.
The orchestra鈥檚 outdoor performance will be a 20-minute, pops-style event on Monday, April 7, and is currently scheduled to take place at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. Selections will include the main theme from 鈥淗ow to Train Your Dragon,鈥� by John Powell; 鈥淐oncerto for Timpani and Full Orchestra, Horse Ride,鈥� by Ney Rosauro; 鈥淚ntroduction and Theme with Variations,鈥� by Gioachino Rossini; and 鈥淩hapsody in Blue,鈥� by George Gershwin.
The 91自拍论坛 Orchestra is the college鈥檚 premier audition-based instrumental ensemble, and has approximately 85 members who include students majoring in music and students majoring in other disciplines. For the performances in New York, the students will be joined by four recent graduates who while still students were involved in planning the program last year; and by three guest performers who are students at The Juilliard School. Funding for the trip has been provided through sources including the 91自拍论坛 Patrons for the Arts and an estate gift from the late David Roossien, whose longtime support of the music program at Hope included donating the Casavant Fr猫res in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.
Tickets for the April 8 Evening Showcase Concert, which will begin at 8 p.m., are $50 ($40 plus a $10 fee) and are available through the .
West Michigan will have an opportunity to enjoy the orchestra鈥檚 Carnegie Hall repertoire shortly before the group leaves for New York. The orchestra will perform at Hope on Friday, April 4, at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, and will present the program planned for the festival鈥檚 evening Showcase Concert. The public is invited to the concert at Hope, and admission is free.
, which was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1891, is arguably the nation鈥檚 most prestigious music venue. Across its nearly 134 years, Carnegie Hall has hosted acclaimed musicians representing every genre, from Tchaikovsky, Dvo艡谩k, Mahler, and Bart贸k, to George Gershwin, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland and The Beatles.