The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra today announced
additional details of its May 7, 2014, concert at New York City’s Carnegie
Hall. The performance – part of the Spring for Music
festival – will see 250 local musicians and staff heading to NYC. The RPO is
encouraging Rochester fans to make the trip as well.
Tickets to the concert are on sale now for $25 through the
Eastman Theatre Box Office (454-2100, 433 E. Main St.). The RPO has also put
together five different travel packages for local audiences interested in
making the trip. These range from $295 to $1295 per person and include various
perks, such as lunch and a tour of Lincoln Center and a post-concert reception
at the Russian Tea Room. Tickets to the Carnegie Hall show will also come with
a lilac-colored flag emblazoned with the RPO and Spring
for Music logos. Attendees will be encouraged to wave at the start of the concert
to show their hometown roots.
The RPO’s Spring for Music concert
was initially announced well over a year ago, during Aril Remmereit’s
brief tenure as RPO music director. While Remmereit
was initially set to lead the orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Michael Christie will
now wave the baton. Christie is a Buffalo native, music director of the
Minnesota Opera, and music director laureate of the Phoenix Symphony and
Colorado Music Festival.
The RPO’s Spring for Music program
will feature “Merry Mount,” the only opera composed by former Eastman School of
Music Director Howard Hanson. The piece is based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short
story “The Maypole of Merry Mount,” and the libretto has been linked to Hawthorne’s
“The Scarlet Letter.” “Merry Mount” had a successful debut at the Metropolitan
Opera in 1934 and then went on national tour, but has not been performed often
since. The Carnegie performance will include the RPO as well as the
Eastman-Rochester Chorus and the Bach’s Children Chorus.
Note that the program will also be performed in Rochester at
Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre on April 10 and April 12; tickets start at
$22 ($10 for students).
For more information on the Spring
for Music/Carnegie Hall performance and tickets and travel packages visit
rpo.org.
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2013.
