POTSDAM — The Orchestra of Northern New York will celebrate the opening of its 22nd concert season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall at SUNY Potsdam.
The orchestra will present a rousing program featuring piano virtuoso Paul Wyse performing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) “Piano Concerto No. 1” and “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). Both Russian composers created work during the Romantic period.
Mr. Wyse is assistant professor of piano at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. His concert appearances have spanned the continental United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. A native of Portland, Maine, he made his orchestral debut with the Bangor Symphony at age 14. Honors include prizes in the Simone Belsky Piano Competition held in Iowa and the Knezkova-Hussey International piano competition in New Brunswick, Canada.
Opening the evening will be “The March From the Love for Three Oranges” by Serge Prokofiev followed by “Nimrod” (Movement 9) from “The Enigma Variations” by Edward Elgar which is dedicated to the memory of Betsy Northrop, former ONNY board president and friend of the orchestra.
The orchestra is directed and conducted by its founder, Kenneth Andrews.
Immediately following the concert will be a reception at Creative Spirit Art Center, 8 Raymond Drive. It will be open to the public and admission is free but a $10 donation is suggested. The reception will feature food and dessert from businesses in Potsdam and Canton and a cash bar provided by the 1844 House.
North Country Public Radio is the media sponsor for the concert, funded in part by the state Council on the Arts and the Sweetgrass Foundation.
The orchestra consists of 70 professional musicians from New York state, New England and Canada, along with several faculty members and a few students by audition from Crane School of Music.
