KSC Orchestra Performs Schubert, Vivaldi, others
KEENE, N.H. 11/17/04 - Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, along with works by Ravel and Vivaldi, will be performed by the Keene State College Chamber Orchestra in a concert conducted by Don Baldini on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth age 17 and under. Call the box office at 603-358-2168.
The 35-member KSC Chamber Orchestra, composed primarily of KSC students and some community members, will also perform Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins in B Minor with solos by the KSC Guitar Orchestra, featuring faculty artists José Lezcano and Ted Mann.
The orchestra also will perform Pavanne pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess), considered one of the principal orchestral works of French composer Maurice Ravel.
The program will include Viennese composer Franz Schubert’s most popular work, Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, his so-called “Unfinished” Symphony, which was written in 1822, six years before he died. He completed two movements and sketched the opening measure of a scherzo. Scholars have never come up with a satisfactory reason as to why he never completed the work.
The orchestra also will perform the Peer Gynt Suite, written by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg for the poetic drama of the same name by Henrik Ibsen.
Baldini, an artist-in-residence at Keene State, also directs the KSC Jazz Ensemble, which will perform “Music of Broadway” on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Redfern Arts Center. Baldini came to Keene State after a professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles. He appeared for 13 years with the “Tonight Show” Orchestra and toured with Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, and the Harry James and Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabakin bands. He currently performs with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Dartmouth Symphony, Opera North, the Keene Chamber Orchestra, and several local chamber music and jazz groups. Baldini, who lives in Saxtons River, Vt., also teaches at Dartmouth College.
