LAKEPORT — The Lake County Symphony will perform Sunday at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre. The Lake County Symphony is underwritten by Clear Lake Performing Arts.
Orchestra Conductor and Music Director John Parkinson, soon to celebrate his 30th anniversary with the symphony, has selected a program consisting of what he said are proven audience favorites from both the Romantic and Contemporary eras, opening with one of the most popular of all of Gioacchini Rossini”s operas “L”Italiana in Algeri: Sinfonia,” often better known as “The Girl in Algeria,” followed by the overture to Franz Lehar”s Operetta “The Merry Widow.”
Parkinson”s next selection is the overture to “Prince Igor,” a dramatic opera written by Russian composer Alexander Borodin that was unfinished at the time of his death in 1887. Two fellow composers, Alexander Glazunov and Nikola Rimsky-Korsakof, teamed up to finish his work and the opera was presented to the public in 1889 to widespread acclaim.
Parkinson”s final selections include British Composer Edward Elgar”s “Serenade for Strings” and Franz Schubert”s “Symphony No. 5 in B flat,” which was written when Schubert was only 19 years old.
According to Mildred Pickersgill, one of the CLPA founders, two of the group”s original objectives were to create a symphony orchestra and build a center where it could perform. While CLPA did not actually build the theater, it has been a major supporter with an eye to eventually housing the symphony there.
Due to limited seating at the Soper-Reese, children younger than 18 will no longer be admitted free to the Lake County Symphony concert. Instead, they will be welcome at the full orchestra rehearsal, which starts at 11 a.m. Members of the public may also attend the rehearsal for $5 per person.
The CLPA Youth Orchestra will conclude the 11 a.m. rehearsal with a program. The youth orchestra also opens the main concert at 3 p.m.
Music instructor and musician Susan Condit will lead the youth orchestra through two pieces: “Poor Wayfaring Stranger,” a traditional spiritual/folk song arranged by Herman Clebanoff; and “Hail The Conquering Hero” from the Oratorio “Judas Maccabeus” by George Frederic Handel. It will be her first time conducting the youth orchestra since the retirement of their former leader Wes Follett.
Admission to the 3 p.m. performance remains $20 for the public and $15 for members of Clear Lake Performing Arts.
Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 263-0577 or online at www.soperreesetheatre.com. They are also available from noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays at the theater box office, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport, as well as Catfish Books in the 11th Street mall and at Lower Lake Coffee Co. in Lower Lake.
