Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra: 7th Annual Beethoven Festival
Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2022
CONTACT: Kate Ashby press@yonkersphilharmonic.org
Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra Launches its 2022-23 Season with 7th Annual Beethoven Festival Concert
On Sunday September 18, 2022 at 3pm, the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra launches its 2022-23 season with the 7th Annual Beethoven Festival concert, featuring performances by individual members and ensembles from the orchestra. This unique and varied program celebrates the music of Beethoven and other renowned German composers, as well as composers inspired by Beethoven, including Bach, Handel, Schubert and Weill, exploring the inspiration and influence of German music across three centuries. The concert features works written and arranged for a diverse variety of instrumental groups including Mandolin and Harp, String Quartet, Woodwind Ensembles, Saxophone Quartet, Piano Quintet and Baritone and Piano, culminating in a grand finale for the combined ensemble featuring all of the Yonkers Philharmonic participating musicians.
Highlights of the program include five works by Beethoven, for varied ensembles, including his Quintet for Piano and Winds and Variations on a Theme “La ci darem la mano” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The genius of Bach is heard in his Brandenburg Concerto no. 6, scored for 4 violas, cello, bass and keyboard. The emotional depth of the early Romantic era is experienced in two masterpieces by Schubert – the first movement of his magnificent String Quartet in D minor “Death and the Maiden” and his intensely dramatic duet for baritone and piano “Erlkönig”, based on a poem by Goethe. Kurt Weill’s music from The Threepenny Opera brings us to the Twentieth century in a selection arranged for saxophone quartet. The groups combine as a full ensemble to play “Alla Hornpipe” from Handel’s beloved Water Music Suite No. 2 in D major in a rousing finale.
The concert is free and all are welcome to join us for this uplifting afternoon of music at Saunders High School, Palmer Road in Yonkers.
CONCERT INFORMATION
Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra 7th Annual Beethoven Festival Concert
Sunday September 18, 2022 at 3pm
Saunders Trades and Technical High School, 183 Palmer Road, Yonkers NY
Admission Free
Further information: www.yonkersphilharmonic.com
Email: press@yonkersphilharmonic.org
Phone: (571) 310-7060
YONKERS PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
The Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra (YPO), founded in 1962, is lower Westchester’s flagship community symphony orchestra and one of the jewels of the City of Yonkers and Westchester County. The orchestra provides free classical music concerts to Yonkers and the surrounding communities and its diverse programs are funded primarily through grants from ArtsWestchester, the Westchester Community Foundation, the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation and the City of Yonkers, as well as through generous contributions from its loyal audience members. Overseeing YPO is the Fine Arts Orchestral Society of Yonkers (FAOS), a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded by the late Dr. Kathleen Pistone-Carucci, and currently led by its President, Victoria Jimpson-Fludd. In most years, YPO presents four free concerts, featuring orchestral masterpieces from the 1700s to the present and has also presented free outdoor summer concerts in collaboration with the Hudson River Museum and Untermyer Performing Arts Council. Among YPO’s signature programs are the Annual Beethoven Festival and Annual Young Artists Concerto Competition and Concert, featuring Westchester student winners as soloists with the orchestra. YPO was featured at the gala celebration of the opening of the building that houses the Riverfront branch of the Yonkers Public Library and the Yonkers Board of Education, and has won numerous awards and accolades for its programming and community engagement.
YPO SPONSORS
YPO – sponsored by the Fine Arts Orchestral Society – is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit. This concert is made possible by a generous grant from the Westchester Community Foundation*, a division of The New York Community Trust. We would like to extend special thanks to the City of Yonkers – Department of Parks and Recreation.
*Westchester Community Foundation’s mission is to connect generous people to the causes they care about and invest in transformative ideas and organizations to improve lives and strengthen our community. WCF is a division of The New York Community Trust, one of the largest community foundations in the country, with assets of approximately $2.6 billion.
About Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra
The Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Tong Chen, presents four symphonic concerts annually. The concerts are held at Saunders Trade and Technical High School on Palmer Rd. in Yonkers on Sunday afternoons: three featuring well known soloists and one featuring winners of our annual Concerto Competition. Additional free concerts have been held during the summer at the new Hudson River Museum amphitheater, Untermyer Park, Cross County Shopping Center and the Riverfront Library in Yonkers. In response to COVID-19, the YPO has also developed a series of on-line concerts under the general title of YPO@Home. The idea is to bring the music to our audience even when they can’t come to us. The Fine Arts Orchestral Society of Yonkers sponsors the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra which comprises approximately 65 musicians. All concerts are FREE and open to the public.
The Fine Arts Orchestral Society of Yonkers (FAOS) celebrated its 50th anniversary as sponsor of the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra in its 2012-2103 season. The organization sponsors FREE classical music Yonkers Philharmoic Orchestra concerts. In March 2018 the FAOS held its 40th annual Concerto Competition for Westchester County High School students. The winners received schoarships and were featured as soloists at a free Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra “Young Artists Concerto Concert” in May 2018.