Don't worry about a corsage for JSO's 'Proms'By Mary Barber, Jackson
Citizen Patroit, Staff Writer
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Floor-length dresses, tuxedos, corsages and rented limousines are strictly
optional for the Jackson Symphony Orchestra's "Proms" on Saturday.
The concert will bear no resemblance to the spring dances at high schools. Instead, it's an adaptation of a century-old English tradition of light spring concerts, with zippy pieces that range from Ellington to Dvorak to Mozart, rousing patriotic tunes, new music and audience favorites. The longest selections will last about 12 minutes. "We've got everything," said Stephen Osmond, conductor for the JSO. In keeping with tradition, the orchestra will feature several guests. The Jackson Chorale will join the orchestra for Sibelius' "Finlandia" chorus, Puccini's "Humming Chorus" and Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." Anita Fobes, usually seen playing cello with the JSO, will return to play the second and third movements of Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto No. 2." She teaches at Parnall Elementary School and at Michigan State University's Community Music School. JSO clarinetist Jonathan Holden will be featured on Weber's "Concertino for Clarinet." Mark Browne will be the guest conductor for three minutes of Mozart's overture to "Marriage of Figaro," an honor he won at an auction. And Concertmaster Michael Heald will give his final solo with the JSO on the premiere of Bruce Brown's "Pilgrimage." Brown, a professor at Spring Arbor University, is the JSO's composer-in-residence. |
Heald, who has been commuting to Jackson from Atlanta for four years, will
leave the JSO at the end of this season to focus on his duties at the
University of Georgia.
Losing the charming and classy violinist will be difficult for the JSO and for Osmond himself. "I'll miss him terribly," Osmond said. Also on the program are: the final movement in Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9"; "Londonderry Air" by Grainger; Aaron Copland's "Hoe Down" from "Rodeo"; a Duke Ellington medley; selections from "West Side Story"; and Sousa's "Stars & Stripes." Osmond also has been conducting the Jackson Chorale this season, and he said he hopes to repeat that role. Leading both the orchestra and the chorale has its benefits, he said, particularly in the ability to share resources. "It's a very different kind of experience, a very different approach (from the orchestra)," he said. "It's been fun. ! People there really want to sing and get together." The chorale will have one more concert this spring, "A Choral Festival," at 8 p.m. May 7 at First United Methodist Church, 275 W. Michigan Ave. -- Reach reporter Mary Barber at 768-4971 or mbarber@citpat.com.
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© 2005 Jackson Citizen
Patriot.
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