The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will play “Music Macabre” at The College at Brockport on Friday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tower Fine Arts Center Mainstage, 180 Holley Street, on the Brockport campus. Tickets cost $16 for general admission, $11 for seniors, alumni, faculty and staff, and $8.50 for students and are available online at fineartstix.brockport.edu, by phone at 395-2787, or at the Tower Fine Arts Center Box Office.
Under the baton of RPO trumpeter and guest conductor, Paul Shewan, the evening’s repertoire will feature several pieces that fall under the descriptor of “program music,” in which a composition actually expresses a story or narrative, rather than having no reference points to the outside world. Examples of the genre include Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre;” Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” featured in Disney’s “Fantasia;” Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King;” and Dvorák’s “The Noon Witch.” Rounding out the program will be a suite of symphonic music from the film “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Manager of the Fine Arts Series at the College, Stuart Ira Soloway encourages audience members to dress in costume for the concert. “It’s Halloween, after all, and with all this spooky music, we need some creatures to ward off the ghouls, especially in the ‘Danse Macabre.’ In that piece, the dancing skeletons’ bones are depicted by xylophones, marking one of their earliest appearances in an orchestral score. They were so new that Saint-Saëns even indicated where orchestra could find the instruments.”
The RPO has had a long-standing relationship with Brockport. In addition to its annual concert, they have a presence on campus throughout the year, providing course instructors and guest lecturers.
Parking Lot G, closest to the Tower Performing Arts Center, will be closed to the public during this concert. Park in lots F or H, across the street from Tower, or in Lot D-1, about one block away.
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