Orchestra will be moving to the music
Don't be late to the Northwest Symphony Orchestra's concert Sunday or you will miss a very unique orchestral experience.
The concert will begin at 3:30 p.m. with an empty stage, except for the percussionists. The rest of the orchestra, starting with the trumpets, will march in section by section, playing while they enter until the entire orchestra, led by music director and conductor Paul Vermel of Niles, is assembled on the stage of Maine West High School's auditorium, 1755 S. Wolf Road, Des Plaines.
This is the way their opening piece, John Corigliano's 1981 "Promenade Overture," is written to be performed.
An American composer who lives in New York City, Corigliano wrote in his composer's program notes that he wrote the piece after hearing Haydn's "Farewell Symphony" in which the players gradually exit. He was inspired then to write the opposite, a promenade in which the players gradually enter while playing.
"Off stage, brass announce the start of the work, with the trumpets playing the last five measures of the Farewell Symphony -- backwards," Corigliano explained in his notes. "This forms a fanfare announcing the promenade of performers, which starts with the piccolo, concludes with the tuba and contains a variety of motives which eventually form a lyrical melody that is built to a climax by the full orchestra."
Vermel, like Corigliano, was intrigued with this concept and chose it to open this concert because, he said, "it is a very fascinating piece which I thought would be fun for the audience."
Once the orchestra is assembled, they will perform a piece by the man whose work inspired Corigliano -- Franz Joseph Haydn -- while also showcasing the winner of its 2007 Paul Vermel Young Artist Competition.
Benjamin Lash, a 17-year-old cellist and student at Evanston Township High School, will perform Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major.
According to Vermel, the symphony has chosen one young string player each year since 1995 for the Paul Vermel Young Artist Award. The winner is chosen from the string players in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra's concerto competition. He or she receives a monetary award and has the opportunity to play a solo with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra.
"Benjamin is a fabulous cellist, an all-around extraordinary player who has a great career ahead of him," said Vermel. "He has perfect intonation and a wonderful sense of the style of Haydn's time period."
The concert will conclude with a well-known composition by Haydn's contemporary, Ludwig van Beethoven. The orchestra will perform Beethoven's fiery Seventh Symphony, which, Vermel said, is one of the famous composer's most popular and stirring works.
The Northwest Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1951 and it features 70 instrumentalists from 45 area communities.
If you go
Northwest Symphony Orchestra performance featuring Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and a cello solo by Paul Vermel Young Artist Award winner Benjamin Lash
3:30 p.m. Sunday
Maine West High School auditorium, 1755 S. Wolf Road, Des Plaines
$20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $10 for students, under 14 free with a paying adult, available at the door or online