Fox Valley Flutes offer musical world tour at April 23 concert at Norris Cultural Arts Center
The Fox Valley Flutes, a six-person ensemble from the Fox Valley Concert Band, will present a musical world tour at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 23, in the next "Music in the Gallery" concert at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles.
Tickets at $15 or $10 for children are available by calling the Norris box office at (630) 584-7200 or online at www.norrisculturalarts.com.
The program includes music from around the world, including Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, Israel, Russia, Jamaica, Brazil and, of course, the United States. Among the 15 works on the program are "Ashokan Farewell" by Jay Ungar, "Bourrée" by J.S. Bach, "Pavane" by Gabriel Fauré, "Habañera" from "Carmen" by George Bizet, "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, "Russian Sailor's Dance" by Reinhold Glière, "Jamaican Rhapsody," arranged by Jerry Nowak, and "American Flute Salute," arranged by Bill Holcombe.
The Fox Valley Flutes ensemble includes Cheryl Bice of Geneva, Mike LaGow of Oswego, Beth Lyons of Willow Springs, Christa Orum-Keller of Maple Park, Danielle Pepa of Elgin, and Cynthia Zimmerman of Lakewood.
All six are members of the flute section of the Fox Valley Concert Band, which will present a free concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 7, at the Norris.
"Although a couple of our members have made music their profession, others have varying backgrounds in education, computers, horticulture, and even Danish pastries," said ensemble member Danielle Pepa. "Participating in a flute ensemble is a different experience than performing in a concert band. Each person is responsible for their own part and needs to be aware of the other parts, not only to blend, but to vary the texture. Members need to play with different colorings to fulfill the roles of other instruments, such as a string bass or a soaring French horn or even the pedal tones of an organ."
The Norris Cultural Arts Center is located at 1040 Dunham Road on the Norris campus which also includes St. Charles East High School.