23-24 Orchestra Concerts
This concert season is sponsored in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Corning Incorporated Foundation, Hilliard Foundation,
and the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes.
Free Under 18 is sponsored by the Anderson Foundation.
*Programs subject to change.*
and the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes.
Free Under 18 is sponsored by the Anderson Foundation.
*Programs subject to change.*
Upcoming Orchestra Concerts
A Grand Gershwin Celebration
Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Clemens Center Powers Theater 207 Clemens Center Parkway, Elmira, NY 14901 |
Featured Guests
Bryan Pezzone, piano Lynnesha Crump, soprano Fredrick Redd, baritone Chorus of the Southern Finger Lakes What's Playing Leviathan by Robert Dusek Voices Shouting Out (9/11) by Nkeiru Okoye Rhapsody in Blue (100th Year Anniversary) by George Gershwin Porgy and Bess - Concert of Songs by Gershwin In Addition The soloists will be holding master classes for students and the public. May 9 - Piano and May 10 - Vocal Sign up for the email newsletter to be notified when details are available. Movie Night Join us Thursday, May 9 at 7 PM at the Park Church in Elmira for a Meaningful Movie Night with an introduction by Maestro Shimada. If you missed the last movie night with "Maestro," you can listen to the recording of the introduction on the OSFL Facebook page. Don't miss this next one! |
Soloist Biographies
Lynnesha Crump
Soprano Lynnesha Crump hails from Washington, DC and is a proud graduate of the Mannes School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory, where she received her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Ms. Crump recently played the role of Mary in William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA with Little opera theater of New York, Strawberry Woman in Porgy and Bess with Des Moines Metro Opera and the role of Verna with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in their debut production of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut up in my Bones. Additionally, Ms. Crump is decorated with awards from prestigious vocal competitions, including two Grammy awards as a featured soloist in Porgy and Bess- as well as her contribution in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Metropolitan Opera. (Available on the Met: Live in HD). Up next, Ms. Crump is currently in rehearsals for the debut of of X: The Life and Times of Malcom X at the Metropolitan Opera. Fredrick RedD
Fredrick Redd, baritone, described in London's Opera Now as being “a compelling vocal actor” and noticed in Opera News having “a pleasant tone.” He has performed principal roles with opera companies throughout in the U.S. and made his New York City Opera debut in the Emmy nominated Porgy & Bess performances. Fredrick made his Carnegie Hall debut in Mid-America’s production of Orff’s Carmina Burana and is pleased to return. Over the years, Fredrick has returned to this stage in leading baritone roles in Verdi's Giovanna D'Arco, La Forza del Destino and in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with New York Grand Opera. Fredrick has an engineering degree (music minor) from the University of Texas, an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology with additional music studies at The Juilliard School. Fredrick is also an avid triathlete having completed over 20 triathlons including becoming an Ironman finisher in 2017 and 2018. Bryan Pezzone
Bryan Pezzone is the consummate crossover pianist of his generation. He excels in classical, contemporary, jazz, and experimental genres and is well known for his versatility and virtuosity as a recording and performing artist, improviser and composer. He performs with many major symphony orchestra associations, tours widely with the jazz group Free Flight, and is known in the Los Angeles area as a primary free-lance pianist for film and television soundtrack recording, contemporary music premieres, and chamber music. Bryan is the pianist on most all of the cartoons released by Warner Brothers and Disney, he was the principal pianist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra from its inception in 1991 through 1999, and received a rare on-screen credit for his performance on the soundtrack of "The Game" starring Michael Douglas. His workshops on his comprehensive approach to improvisation are frequently requested and he is a consulting editor for the well-known publication "Piano and Keyboard." As a soloist, Bryan has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pasadena Pops, Santa Monica Symphony, Santa Clarita Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, United States International University Orchestra, U.C. Irvine Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonic and the Pacific Symphony. Bryan has also been invited to perform solo keyboard concerts that blend traditional concert repertoire, improvisations and original works at numerous universities, one of which was the California Institute of the Arts where he created the multi-focused keyboard program and served on the piano faculty from 1987 to 1999. Bryan is responsible for most of Yamaha's Disklavier Piano Series with solo titles as disparate as “The Best of Elton John,” “Cinema Love Songs,” “Debussy Piano Works,” and “The Best of Queen,” all of which are his own transcriptions. Since beginning his career in Los Angeles in 1987, Bryan has worked with many of the premiere contemporary music conductors: Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano and John Williams. He is featured in collaborations on a vast number of professionally released recordings, and has been involved with nearly every major festival, series, and performing arts organization, including: Regular appearances on Sundays at Four (broadcast live on KUSC FM 91.5), Monday Evening Concerts, the Green Umbrella Series with both the Cal Arts New Century Players and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, the Ojai Festival, Joeffrey Ballet - soloist in Stravinsky's "Les Noces", Los Angeles Sonic Odyssey, Southwest Chamber Music Series and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Bryan received his Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music in 1984 where he was awarded the Performers Certificate and won the concerto competition. He was invited to the Tanglewood Music Center two successive summers as a full scholarship fellow in 1983 and 1984 where he received the C.D. Jackson Master Award. He attended the Banff Centre during its winter term on scholarship from 1984-1985 as an alternative to graduate studies in order to have the necessary time to freely blend various aesthetics and diverse performance traditions into a unique approach. This passion remains the focus of his work and continues to evolve in Bryan's own concerts called "Freedom Series" an eclectic blend of Bryan's compositions and improvisations mixed with personal musings on life and inspiration. Bryan's unique approach is a hybrid genre that is meant to both affect his audience emotionally through music as well as provide a gateway for more inspired living and attention to imagination long after the music has ended. Bryan's recordings include the chamber works of John Briggs, “Settings” by Mel Powell, works of John Harbison and John Cage, oboe soloist Allan Vogel (Delos), trombonist William Booth and many more vocalists and instrumentalists. Bryan’s own CDs include “Flying on Water” produced by Steve Wight and featuring M.B. Gordy on drums and Bart Samolis on bass, “Towards” produced by Prescriptive Music, “Intimate Themes and Interludes,” and “Piano Prayers” blending jazz and classical styles with Bryan’s own improvisations. |
Musicians' Choice Chamber Series
Fridays at 7:30 PM
Presenting five concerts in the 23-24 series
Presenting five concerts in the 23-24 series
New this season: FREE Under 18 applies to the Musicians' Choice Chamber Music concerts as well as the OSFL full orchestra concerts, thanks to the generous support from the Anderson Foundation.
*Anyone under the age of 18 gets free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Bring the whole family!
*Anyone under the age of 18 gets free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Bring the whole family!
Buy Chamber Tickets
April 26, 2024 at 7:30 PM at the Park Church in Elmira, NY OSFL Principal Strings Quartetto Masuno Augusto Diemecke, violin Debrah Devine, violin Joanne Lowe, viola Christine Lowe-Diemecke, cello Shade Zajac, cello Performing Franz Schubert's Cello Quintet and String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden" Pre-concert wine tasting by Lakewood Vineyards Read the press release.
Learn more about the music. The principal musicians recommend reading these program notes by Jonathan Blumhofer for "Death and the Maiden" and these notes by Mark Steinberg for the Cello Quintet. |
June 7, 2024 at 7:30 PM at the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, NY
The Campos/Pietra Duo Frank Gabriel Campos, trumpet Mario Pietra, string bass "Bach to The Beatles, Bernstein to the Blues" Experience the essence of music distilled down into creative covers played by trumpet and string bass. Hear arrangements of jazz, contemporary, and classical favorites including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee. |
Get Tickets Now
Subscribe to the rest of the chamber music concerts this season and save. Your ticket will be guaranteed for the popular concerts that regularly sell out. Subscribe here.
The Musicians' Choice Chamber Series is sponsored in part by the OSFL Chamber Music Society and the Richard J. and Judith Sphon Family Fund at the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, Inc.
*Dates and programs subject to change.