Centenary Youth Orchestra presents fall concert November 5
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary Youth Orchestra will present its first concert under new director Dan Santelices on Sunday, November 5 at 2:30 p.m. The performance, an exciting blend of familiar and new repertoire, will be held in the Hurley School of Music’s Anderson Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.
“It has been a joy for the Centenary Youth Orchestra members to prepare this program,” says Santelices. “Because the repertoire is so familiar, there are technical and stylistic challenges which they recognize and look forward to.”
The November 5 concert will open with a personal favorite of the orchestra - Aaron Copland’s rousing “Hoedown” from his ballet Rodeo. The program continues with selected movements from G.F. Handel’s Water Music Suite in F-Major. The Baroque composer was commissioned by King George I of England to entertain his large entourage traveling and celebrating on large barges down the Thames River.
A highlight of the concert will be the premiere of “Waltz of the Fuzzy Slippers,” the charming and childlike final movement from the Unworn Shoes Suite penned by Dr. Todd Gabriel, the founder and former conductor of the Centenary Youth Orchestra. Selected movements from Georges Bizet’s Suite No. 1 from his opera Carmen will conclude the program and includes the familiar and stately “March of the Toreadors.”
The Centenary Youth Orchestra provides college-level playing experiences for advanced middle and high school instrumentalists, including the chance to play with local professional musicians.
“I am most happy that Centenary alumni are part of the group, some of whom are playing professionally,” says Santelices. “I look forward to having even more members, especially in the brass and woodwind section, to help broaden the choice of repertoire for future concerts. I hope that the quality of this performance will encourage and inspire other young musicians to join.”
The Youth Orchestra’s spring concert on Sunday, March 4 at 2:30 p.m. will feature selections from Mozart, Saint-Saens, and Stravinsky. For more information about the Centenary Youth Orchestra, including audition information, please contact Dan Santelices at dtmsantelices@yahoo.com or visit centenary.edu/hurleycommunity.