The weather outside is cold and snowy, the calendar has taken us into the heart of winter, so naturally the Northern Orchestra is ready to perform.
The area's community developmental ensemble is set to present a collection of classical music this weekend, with some local talent in the solo spotlight. Prince George's Alyssa Cheung will be the featured performer.
"She will be playing the Bartok (composition) Romanian Dances with yours truly at the piano, and St. Saens's famous and fabulous Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso with the orchestra," said the group's music director Gord Lucas.
The concert will also include Haydn Symphony No. 104 In D (aka The London), and two pieces by Leroy Anderson, plus Suite Op. 19 by Arnold Schoenberg.
"Perhaps Schoenberg's most popular composition, it was originally written for piano," said Lucas. "I orchestrated it several years ago, and for this concert, we have five fine young piano students of our own Julia Wick, the orchestra's official pianist, who is of course a regular in our cello section. They will each be playing a movement on the piano, and Julia will be playing one as well. Each performance will be followed by the orchestral arrangement. It should be an interesting experience to see how the monochrome piano versions are interpreted by an orchestration."
The range of music in this, the second concert of the Northern Orchestra's season, runs the gamut of musical emotions, hence the show's title of Mild To Wild.
There are two performances. The first is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church. The second is on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Vanderhoof, at Nechako Valley Secondary School.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7.50 for seniors and students, available at the door. Gift passes for future Northern Orchestra performances will also be for sale as Christmas gifts.
