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By Abigail Davidson
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
On Sunday, May 1, area residents will have the opportunity to experience the magic of a live performance when the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra presents its final concert of the 2015-2016 season. The concert will take place at 3 p.m. at Massachusetts Bay Community College, which is located at 50 Oakland Street in Wellesley.
There’s something magical about hearing classical music live, according to MaeLynn Arnold, the concertmaster for the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. Arnold described how the audience can “feel the anticipation in the air” as the musicians tune their instruments, the conductor makes his or her way onto the stage, a hush falls over the room, and the orchestra takes a deep breath before diving into a performance.
There is no “other experience quite like being live at a classical performance - be it opera, ballet, or orchestra,” explained Arnold.
“As an audience member, if you can clear your mind of interfering thoughts, focus and engage with what's happening on the stage, and be in the moment with the music, then you open yourself to have an all sensory experience,” Arnold said.
The WSO performs a number of concerts each year, featuring a diverse selection of pieces and soloists. The WSO’s repertoire also includes a holiday pops concert in December and a family concert in the spring, during which children have the opportunity to learn more about how an orchestra operates.
For their upcoming concert, the orchestra will perform Emil von Reznicek's “Donna Diana” Overture, Aaron Copland's "Red Pony Suite,” and Johannes Brahms’ “Double Concerto in A Minor” for violin and cello.
“Each WSO program is very carefully and thoughtfully curated, and always includes unique, rarely heard works,” said Arnold. “With this concert, the audience is really in for a treat.”
Arnold explained that Reznicek’s overture for “Donna Diana,” a comic opera, is “so lovely and charming, and has a Rossini quality about it.” The overture is one of the Austrian composer’s most well known pieces.
The second piece the orchestra will perform is Copland’s “Red Pony Suite,” which was composed for Lewis Milestone’s film The Red Pony and based on a book by John Steinbeck. Copland, who was often referred to as the “dean of American composers,” is widely known for developing a distinctly American style of music that evokes the American west and the country’s pioneering spirit.
The final piece of the WSO’s spring concert will be Brahms’ “Double Concerto in A Minor,” which was written in the summer of 1887 and premiered in October of that year. The featured performers for the Brahms concerto will be two of the WSO’s own musicians: Arnold and Seth MacLeod, the principal cellist for the WSO.
Arnold began playing the violin at age six and went on to perform at the Oberlin Conservatory. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University and currently performs with a number of orchestras and ensembles in the Boston area, including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Indian Hill, the Marsh Chapel Players, and Cantata Singers. Additionally, she serves as the assistant concertmaster for the Boston Civic Symphony and performs with the Denovo Quartet.
MacLeod earned his bachelor’s degree in music from Boston University. In addition to performing with the WSO, he also serves as the principal cellist for the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Boston Civic Symphony.
He performs with the Loki String Quartet, the Prospero Trio, and is the founder of the Athena Orchestra.
“Featuring soloists is always something especially fun and intriguing for the audience,” said Arnold. She added that it’s particularly interesting for the audience to “have a chance to see and hear artists up close in the spotlight in front of the orchestra, and watch the special interaction they have with the conductor and, in this case, with each other as well!”
More information on the WSO can be found online at wellesleysymphony.org. The WSO is supported by the Wellesley Cultural Council.
