Dayton, Ohio (March 9, 2009) – On Sunday, March 22 at 1:30 pm, the Dayton Philharmonic Junior String Orchestra will present a free concert at Dayton Art Institute, the second and final in the Orchestra’s 2008-2009 Season. This concert is part of the DAI Afternoon Musicale Series.
Conductor Betsey Hofeldt will open the program with Vivaldi’s emotional, emphatic Concerto in D minor, Op. 3, one of a series of concerti entitled L’Estro Armonico. Banchieri’s Renaissance Canzona, a soaring, reflective masterwork, follows. Haydn’s brilliant and sparkling Symphony No. 1 in D major is the third work in the program.
The JSO will end the concert with Holtz’s St. Paul Suite that features Irish-flavored opening and final movements; a contrasting muted, ethereal, and challenging second movement; and a declamatory and raucously dance-like intermezzo. In the finale, Holtz uses two contrasting, traditional, and immediately recognizable English themes – the jig-like Dargason and the more reverential Greensleeves.
Junior String Orchestra members rehearse every Sunday from 1:45 pm – 4:15 pm, September – March. The Junior String Orchestra consists of 53 students in grades 6-12 representing 22 different schools in the Greater Dayton area. Membership in the Orchestra is through competitive audition.