The Brockport Symphony Orchestra will present their “Erie Canal Bicentennial Concert” on Sunday, April 30 at 4 p.m. in the historic sanctuary at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 14 State Street in the Village of Brockport. Admission and parking are free, and donations to the orchestra with a portion for St. Luke’s and canned items for the Brockport Ecumenical Food Shelf will be gratefully accepted at the door.
Under the baton of music director Jonathan Allentoff, this concert will showcase the talents of narrator Bill Andrews, Vice-Mayor of Brockport, nationally-acclaimed vocalist Mary Wojciechowski, and the Smithsonian Gold Medal Artists of the Golden Eagle String Band.
The program features the world premiere of Allentoff’s “Erie Canal Portrait” for Narrator and Orchestra composed in honor of the Erie Canal Bicentennial, and a new setting of “Songs of the Erie Canal” for Narrator, String Band and Orchestra by Allentoff and William Hullfish. Hullfish has also restored and arranged three works that were performed at the opening ceremonies of the Erie Canal, including “Dewitt Clinton’s Grand Canal March,” “The Grand Canal Waltz,” and “Meeting of the Waters.”
Highlighting the canal’s influence on Hollywood and Broadway, Wojciechowski will perform three concert selections from the 1953 Erie Canal themed movie musical entitled, “The Farmer Takes a Wife” by Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields, as well as George M. Cohan’s “Down by the Erie Canal.”
Following the performance, there will be a complimentary dessert reception in Parish Hall celebrating the Erie Canal Bicentennial.
This performance will also kick-off the orchestra’s Fall 2017 Erie Canal Bicentennial Concert Tour with special appearances at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, in conjunction with the World Canals Conference, and the Empire State Plaza in Albany, where it has been invited to present a command performance at the New York State Museum.
This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts at the Livingston Arts Center, a member supported organization.
For additional information, visit www.brockportsymphony.org.
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