Charles Wright’s instrumental music program will hold its first concert of the year on Thursday, October 16, at 7:30pm.  The concert is free and open to the public.  It will be held in the Middle School Commons. 

The String Orchestra will kick off the concert with three pieces: “Molly on the Shore” by Percy Grainger, arranged by Sandra Dackow; “Intermezzo” by Johannes Brahms, arranged by Michael Hopkins; and “Jig from St. Paul’s Suite” by Gustav Holst.

“Two of the orchestra’s pieces are kind of like British fiddle music,” explains Director Heidi Huckins.  “Both Grainger and Holst were fans of the folk music of that country.  The Intermezzo by Brahms is a beautiful arrangement of one of his piano pieces. I like to program slow pieces for the groups so that they can work on playing expressively.”

The  Jazz Ensemble will play: “Tuxedo Junction” by Hawkins, Johnson & Dash, arranged by John Edmondson; “C Jam Blues” by Duke Ellington, arranged by Paul Cook; and “Backstreet Blues” by Sammy Nestico.

“The Jazz Ensemble’s  tunes pretty much stick to the blues, which is the foundation of jazz and is our primary focus in the beginning of the year,” says Huckins.

The Symphonic Band  will play: “Chant and Savage Dance” by Brian Balmages; “As Summer Was Just Beginning (Song for James Dean)” by Larry Daehn; and “Hosts of Freedom” by Karl L. King, edited by John P. Paynter.

“The first two pieces are original compositions by contemporary composers.” says Huckins.  “’Chant and Savage Dance’ is a programmatic piece written to depict an ancient tribal ritual.  Daehn’s piece is a tribute to James Dean’s short life whose movie roles and tragic death resonated with the times.”

The concert will conclude with the march “Hosts of Freedom.”   Huckins has made it a tradition for the Symphonic Band to perform a march at every concert.