Under perfect summer skies the Boston Landmarks Orchestra opened its 2017 summer series on theat the Hatch Shell. The circle in front of the Hatch Shell was filled with music lovers of all ages.
The orchestra will perform free concerts through August. “The program this year has outstanding orchestral music but also amazing new music that engages many, many members of our community both on and off the stage,” said Executive Director Jo Frances Meyer. She said by having the performers come from all over the region, it is a good way to get people to come out and watch it.
“There are still lots of people in many neighborhoods that aren’t even aware of it,” said Frances Meyer. “We want to make it a gathering place for the city.”
One City Choir, that features singers from 44 cities and towns in Massachusetts that will be singing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is a great example said Frances Meyer, on how the Landmarks Orchestra tries to gather people at the Hatch Shell.
Last year Boston Landmarks Orchestra celebrated the 15th anniversary and this year they are celebrating 10 years at the Hatch Shell.
Conductor and community advocate Charles Ansbacher founded the Boston Landmarks Orchestra in 2001. The orchestra is comprised of many of the area’s finest professional musicians.
Being outdoors is part of the charm, said Wilkins who enjoys seeing the joggers and bikers going by on the Esplanade stop in awe when they realize there is a free concert going on at the Hatch Shell. “They just stop, sit down on the lawn and take in the concert,” he said.
Off to the left of the stage Wilkins aid that they set up a “Maestro Zone” where paper batons are handed out to get a free lesson in conducting.
“For us, some things we do are unique and strange. We are known for doing everyday things a little differently,” said Wilkins.
One thing Frances Meyer’s wants to make clear is that the performers are not volunteers. Over the years, she said that many people ask if they all volunteer but, Frances Meyer’s believes that it is important to pay the professional orchestra that are so talented.
“We work hard to raise money,” said Frances Meyers. “It may be a free concert but it’s not free to provide.”
The Concerts will be held every Wednesday evening at 7 pm from July 19 through August 23, 2017. A full list of descriptions and times are listed below.
JULY 26 MERCURY ORCHESTRA: SYMPHONIC OPERA
Channing Yu, Music Director
Channing Yu and his Mercury Orchestra have thrilled Boston area audiences every summer for a decade. Through skill, devotion, and truly ambitious repertoire—much of it opera-related—some of the most talented amateur musicians in the region come together each year to deliver invariably memorable performances. This summer for the first time, they appear on the Esplanade as guests of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. No rain date.
Richard Wagner Die Meistersinger—An Orchestral Tribute
Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Suite
AUGUST 2, 2017 BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 9
Boston Landmarks Orchestra | Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Adrian Anantawan, violin
Michelle Johnson, soprano
Emily Marvosh, contralto
William Hite, tenor
Ron Williams, baritone
One City Choir
Back Bay Chorale, Scott Allen Jarrett, Music Director
The drama of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony—a journey from darkness to light—is one of the glories of Western art. Beethoven believed in music’s power to redeem a suffering humanity, to bring us closer to heaven in this life. His music to Goethe’s play, Egmont, came at the apex of his “Heroic Period.” The story honors the sacrifice of a nobleman condemned to death for resisting tyranny. The sublime Romance in F for solo violin and orchestra is among Beethoven’s most sweetly lyrical instrumental works. Rain date: August 3 at Hatch Shell or Kresge Auditorium at MIT
Ludwig van Beethoven Egmont Overture
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Romance in F
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9
AUGUST 9 ANTHEMS OF THE WORLD
Boston Landmarks Orchestra | Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Boston String Academy
Zumix
Gonzalo Grau, composer
Fired by local pride, some of Western music’s most passionate works are closely identified with their cultures of origin. At its premiere, Finlandia was heard to symbolize Finnish independence. It is now considered a second Finnish national anthem. Dvořák urged American composers to borrow from the spirituals, much as he had employed Czech folk songs in his own writing. Márquez’s Danzón No. 2 has become one of the most popular of all orchestral dances. The young musicians of Zumix are featured in a Landmarks-commissioned work they have created with composer Gonzalo Grau. Rain date: August 10 at Hatch Shell or Kresge Auditorium at MIT
Jean Sibelius Finlandia
Amy Beach Gaelic Symphony: Alla siciliana
Kareem Roustom Aleppo Songs
Gonzalo Grau new work for Zumix
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 8
August 16 Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Ronald Feldman Longwood Symphony, Music Director
Boston’s medical community orchestra has been a leader in innovative programming and community engagement for thirty-five years. Recognizing that music is at its essence a healing art, the Longwood Symphony serves the Greater Boston area through performances and programming related to the services these musicians provide in their medical professions. Music Director Ronald Feldman conducts. No rain date
Program TBA
AUGUST 23 LANDMARKS DANCE CARNIVAL
Boston Landmarks Orchestra | Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Peter DiMuro, curator/choreographer Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion, The Dance Complex
Ryan Edwards, composer and drummer
Apostolos Paraskevas, composer and orchestrator
Conservatory Lab Charter School (CLCS)
Camp Harbor View
Boys & Girls Clubs
Irish and Brazilian Traditional Dancers
“Music to move by” from many cultures features dancers from across the city. Composer and drummer Ryan Edwards teams up with Apostolos Paraskevas to create a new work for young drummers and dancers from Camp Harbor View and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. The evening culminates in a grand performance of Copland’s Rodeo with choreography by Peter DiMuro. It will be hard for anyone to sit still for this season finale. But at Boston Landmarks Orchestra concerts, that’s perfectly okay. Rain Date: Thursday August 24
Johann Strauss Emperor Waltzes
Brazilian and Irish Dance traditional dance music
Georges Enesco Romanian Rhapsody No. 1
Ryan Edwards/Apostolos Paraskevas new work for Camp Harbor View and Boys & Girls Clubs
Aaron Copland Rodeo (complete ballet music)