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Symphony Pro Musica Hosts Spring Concerts
HUDSON & SOUTHBOROUGH: Symphony Pro Musica, conducted by Mark Churchill (pictured), presents its final performances of its 2021/22 season on Saturday, May 14 at 7:30pm at the Hudson High School, and on Sunday, May 15 at 3:30 pm at the Putnam Family Arts Center at St. Mark’s School, Southborough. The program is titled “Joyous Celebrations!” and features the twin daughters of Mark and Marylou Churchill, Emma and Julia.
The program opens with the Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms. The Overture captures the excitement and expectation of the graduation season with infectiously exuberant music, four popular drinking songs of the time in fact! The major work is Beethoven's Symphony No.1, built on the achievements of Haydn and Mozart. It’s a work of youthful passion and charm, but with plenty of the composer’s own voice and the clear promise of the great things to come.
Emma and Julia will have just completed their professional music studies and have chosen two stunning, shorter works to perform. A staple of the violin repertoire, Ernest Chausson’s poignant Poeme for Violin and Orchestra is his most-loved composition, and Darius Milhaud’s Cello Concerto No.1 is a raucous piece drawing from jazz and Brazilian musical influences whose last movement is titled “Joyeux!” Mark Churchill adds, “This will be the second time Emma and Julia have performed with the orchestra—they were 11 years old for their SPM debut!”
Emma and Julia are receiving master’s degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. For undergraduate studies Julia attended the Eastman School of Music and Emma the Oberlin Conservatory. Daughters of Boston Symphony principal second violinist Marylou Speaker Churchill and SPM conductor and cellist Mark Churchill, they grew up in a musical household and started music lessons at age 3 and a half, studying strings, piano, composition and music theory, and participating in numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles and summer programs. Notable among these were 14 years at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, 9 summers at Greenwood Music Camp, and 4 years as members of the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. They appeared as soloists with SPM in a performance of Vivaldi’s Double Concerto for violin and cello when they were 11 years old.
SPM continues its long tradition of performing at Hudson High School, which began at the orchestra’s founding 39 years ago. The orchestra returns to St. Mark’s School, where SPM last played in February 2020. Churchill adds “It’s wonderful to return to the Putnam Family Arts Center. It’s a beautiful space designed with superb acoustics in mind.”
Students are always able to attend SPM concerts at no charge. Adult tickets are $25, senior tickets are $20, and group rates are available. First-time SPM concertgoers may also attend free of charge. Tickets to the performances may be found on Eventbrite (www.symphonypromusica.eventbrite.com), or online at www.symphonypromusica.org. For information, call 978-562-0939 or email spmoffice@symphonypromusica.org.
The program opens with the Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms. The Overture captures the excitement and expectation of the graduation season with infectiously exuberant music, four popular drinking songs of the time in fact! The major work is Beethoven's Symphony No.1, built on the achievements of Haydn and Mozart. It’s a work of youthful passion and charm, but with plenty of the composer’s own voice and the clear promise of the great things to come.
Emma and Julia will have just completed their professional music studies and have chosen two stunning, shorter works to perform. A staple of the violin repertoire, Ernest Chausson’s poignant Poeme for Violin and Orchestra is his most-loved composition, and Darius Milhaud’s Cello Concerto No.1 is a raucous piece drawing from jazz and Brazilian musical influences whose last movement is titled “Joyeux!” Mark Churchill adds, “This will be the second time Emma and Julia have performed with the orchestra—they were 11 years old for their SPM debut!”
Emma and Julia are receiving master’s degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. For undergraduate studies Julia attended the Eastman School of Music and Emma the Oberlin Conservatory. Daughters of Boston Symphony principal second violinist Marylou Speaker Churchill and SPM conductor and cellist Mark Churchill, they grew up in a musical household and started music lessons at age 3 and a half, studying strings, piano, composition and music theory, and participating in numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles and summer programs. Notable among these were 14 years at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, 9 summers at Greenwood Music Camp, and 4 years as members of the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. They appeared as soloists with SPM in a performance of Vivaldi’s Double Concerto for violin and cello when they were 11 years old.
SPM continues its long tradition of performing at Hudson High School, which began at the orchestra’s founding 39 years ago. The orchestra returns to St. Mark’s School, where SPM last played in February 2020. Churchill adds “It’s wonderful to return to the Putnam Family Arts Center. It’s a beautiful space designed with superb acoustics in mind.”
Students are always able to attend SPM concerts at no charge. Adult tickets are $25, senior tickets are $20, and group rates are available. First-time SPM concertgoers may also attend free of charge. Tickets to the performances may be found on Eventbrite (www.symphonypromusica.eventbrite.com), or online at www.symphonypromusica.org. For information, call 978-562-0939 or email spmoffice@symphonypromusica.org.