Penfield Symphony Orchestra's "Winners and Pictures!" Concert

The Penfield Symphony Orchestra, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to enriching the Rochester community for over 60 years, will present “Winners and Pictures!” concert, sponsored by Harris Beach PLLC, the fourth concert of its 63rd season. The first half of the concert will feature Bernstein’s Overture to Candide and Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, both held over from our weather-canceled February concert, as well as a challenging movement from Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, played by our Jo Amish Young Artist Competition winner, Raymond Feng. The concert will conclude with Mussorgsky’s famous Pictures at an Exhibition. The concert will be held on May 6, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. at the Penfield High School Auditorium located at 25 High School Drive in Penfield, New York. Tickets can be purchased online at www.penfieldsymphony.org, by phone at 585-872-0774, at all area Wegmans, the Penfield Recreation Department, Canandaigua National Bank (Penfield Branch), and at the door on the night of the concert. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for senior citizens, 60 and over. For students of any age with a student ID, tickets are free. The Overture to Candide is a clever, energetic reworking of the stage show’s best tunes, which Bernstein rescored for full orchestra. It has become his most popular orchestral work. Grofé’s picturesque Grand Canyon Suite uses orchestral instruments to evoke the natural sounds he'd heard on a visit to this “world wonder”; the woodwinds imitate birds, and the trumpets sound like crickets. The suite requires special sound effects to be used, so our creative musicians came up with some novel solutions. PSO percussionist Bill Youhass enlisted Pettinger Sheet & Metal Fabrication in Canandaigua to help create an impressive, huge thunder sheet. To create a wind machine, Jack Mottley (volunteer) and Dianne Stengel (PSO Operations Manager and Bassoon II) produced a design based on pictures of old-time radio sound effects devices. Lastly, and at great expense, coconut shells are used to simulate the hooves of burros going down the Grand Canyon trails. The second half features the most famous gallery stroll ever – Pictures at an Exhibition. Maurice Ravel turned Mussorgsky’s original piano suite into a stunning concert-hall showpiece, evoking each scene in turn. Following the concert, patrons will be invited to crank the wind machine themselves, for a fun personal music experience. Directed by Dr. David Harman since 2000, this 90-piece orchestra enriches the community by providing fine music and a setting where both amateur and professional musicians perform a variety of classical music. For information on concerts and highlights, follow the Penfield Symphony Orchestra on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PenfieldSymphonyOrchestra, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PenfieldSym, or visit the website at http://www.penfieldsymphony.org.