The Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra is coming to Knox United Church this month to present ‘Sounds of Spring,’ a Baroque, Classical and Modern program.
The concert is on March 22 and features new Nanaimo resident, Nick Ross. A native of Ottawa, Ross studied both violin and trumpet at the University of Ottawa.
He currently has a teaching studio, performs with the Vancouver Island Symphony and is the music director of the Nanaimo Youth Orchestra.
He will play the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Major, K.211; and will solo in Alan Hovhaness’ Prayer of St. Gregory, for trumpet and strings.
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The program starts with Concerto in A, Opus 9, No. 4 bmy Charles Avison, an English Baroque composer reputed to have a strong sense of melody in his works. Then, Nocturne in B Major by Anton Dvorak, published in 1883, adapted from the slow movement of an earlier string quartet. The first half finishes with the Mozart Concerto and violinist, Nick Ross.
This concerto is from 1775 when the 19-year old Mozart composed five violin concertos for the Archbishop’s court orchestra in Saltzburg.
The second half opens with a meditative homage to St. Gregory (The Illuminator) who, at the beginning of the fourth century, brought Christianity to Armenia. Prayer for St. Gregory was composed in the mid-1940s by American, Alan Hovhaness.
To finish, the NCO will play Suite for Strings, by Czech composer, Leos Janacek. This suite has six movements and bears influences of Janacek’s native Moravian folk tunes.
Admission is $20 for adults, $5 for students, under 13, free – either at the door (cash) or online at www.nco.tickit.ca For more information about the orchestra see www.nanaimochamberorchestra.com
— NEWS staff, submitted