Concert
American Symphonic Soundscapes
- When:
- Where:
- Western Branch High School
1968 Bruin Pl, Chesapeake, VA 23321 - Admission:
- Free and open to the public
Program
The Symphonic GershwinAn American In Paris, Cuban Overture and Rhapsody In Blue
George Gershwin · arr. Warren Baker · 7:25
Warren Barker has masterfully combined the most memorable themes from Gershwin's great symphonic works into a dramatic concert work that is certain to be a favorite in any performance. It includes: An American in Paris; Cuban Overture and, of course, Rhapsody in Blue.
Fantasy for Trombone
Elizabeth Raum · arr. Michael Nunes · 6:30
Featured artist
Chris EspyTrombone Soloist
Christopher Espy, trombone, is a music instructor at Willam and Mary and Christopher Newport University. Espy earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he was a recipient of a Teaching Assistantship. He previously taught at Chowan University. Espy is an active orchestral and chamber musician in the area, and has performed with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony. He has been published in the International Trombone Journal, and has twice performed as a soloist at the International Trombone Festival.
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Fantasy for Trombone solo and Piano was written in 1981 as a Christmas present for Richard Raum while he and Elizabeth Raum were performing with the Regina Symphony. Ms. Raum is a highly respected Canadian composer with a catalog of outstanding compositions, many featuring brass instrument solos. Fantasy for Trombone and Concert Band is beautifully arranged by composer/teacher Michael Nunes and was created for trombonist David Pell and the Ontario Provincial Honor Band.
Concertino for Concert Band & Trombone
Ferdinand David · arr. Charles T. Yeago · 13:53
Featured artist
Lorenzo WardTrombone Soloist
Lorenzo Ward is a student at Old Dominion University currently majoring in music education. Born into a musical family, Lorenzo has held a love of music from a young age, in fact one of his first phrases were “I Love Music”. He studies with Virginia Symphony Trombonists Tanner Antonetti, David Kidd, and ODU Trombone Instructor Mike Hall. Lorenzo performs with the Old Dominion University Wind Ensemble as principal trombone, as well as the Old Dominion University Symphony Orchestra, Brass Choir, Sacbut Consort, and the Monarch Marching Band. In addition, he has performed in ensembles including the Symphonic Artistry Wind Ensemble, Southside Community Band, Bay Youth Symphony Orchestra, Peninsula Youth Orchestra, and the Soundscapes Performance Ensemble. He also freelances in various ensembles in the Hampton Roads area. Lorenzo has taken part in the Tide-Brass Summer Music Festival, and the Fred-Brass Summer Music Festival in 2022. In 2024, Lorenzo was selected as a summer intern to perform with the Tidewater Winds. In the summer of 2025 he took part in the Masterwork’s Music Festival. He was a winner of the Masterwork’s Music Festival Chamber Competition. He also won the Chesapeake Bay Solo Competition 2025-2026. While Lorenzo appreciates multiple styles of music, his passion is orchestral music. Some of his favorite composers are Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms, and Carl Nielson. Aside from his teachers, major influences are Joseph Alessi, Mark Lawrence, Nitzan Haroz, and Megumi Kanda.
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Ferdinand David (19 June 1810, Hamburg, Germany – 18 July 1873, Klosters, Switzerland) was a German virtuoso violinist and composer.
We That Wait
Richard Moriarty · 25:00
Featured artist
Andrea BootheSoprano Soloist
Andrea Boothe has called the beautiful state of Virginia home since 2002, landing in Hampton Roads with her husband, Daniel W. Boothe, in 2017. She is an active vocalist, educator, choral adjudicator, and avid arts volunteer throughout the region. Boothe previously taught music education for Virginia Beach Public Schools, and is currently serving Chesapeake Public Schools as a teacher of English-language learners. Boothe has performed across the U.S. and internationally in Canada and Russia. As a former active duty military spouse, her travels have provided many opportunities to perform and integrate into her local community, and she has been sought after as an education consultant and advocate for musical arts integration. Notable performances include work with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Roanoke Opera, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Dayton Opera, and locally with Symphonicity, the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble, and Regent University. She is active as a soloist for churches throughout the region. She has a special affinity for contemporary music, and enjoys collaborating with other artists to bring new music to life. Boothe completed studies in vocal performance, music therapy, dance, and psychology at Radford University and Immaculata University, graduating with honors. She studied with regionally acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Curtis, Clarity James of the New York Opera, as well as renowned New York and Philadelphia-based vocal coach Diana Borgia-Petro. Favorited concert performances as featured soloist include Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Francis Poulenc’s Gloria, John Rutter’s Gloria, Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aenaes, CamilleSaint-Saëns' Oratorio de Noël, and Songs from the End of the World, by John Mackey. Her featured work as soprano soloist with Symphonicity has been heard on WHRO radio broadcasts with Raymond Jones.
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The American composer Richard Moriarty (born in Boston in 1946) spent his professional life as a pathologist, taking up composition upon his retirement and studying with Adolphus Hailstork and Richard Danielpour. His deeply felt orchestral song-cycle We That Wait, using poems from the American Civil War written by women, is a grand statement in a proud American tradition of Neo-Romanticism – accessible, direct and sincere.
The Promise of LivingFrom "The Tender Land"
Aaron Copland · arr. Kenneth Singleton · 5:40
The Promise of Living (1954) is a quintet that unites hobos and family at the end of the first act in celebration of the harvest and its traditions. Even without voices, the use of the folk hymn Zion’s Walls and Copland’s transparent scoring create a clear dramatic sequence. A dramatic gesture gives way to a quiet, lyrical passage, in which the gentle rise and fall of the melody suggests the unfolding sequence of wistful thoughts. Woodwinds gradually interject to create a sense of dialogue, both internal and, eventually, external. The answer comes, this time fuller, building to a passage that is signature Copland: a smooth melody rooted in open harmonies, with bits of short repeated motives in call and response style which keep the music moving. Brass eventually join the scene, their chorale style underscoring the ritualistic role of the moment without losing the introspective quality that draws together community and individual, past and present.