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The Orchestra and Chamber Wind Ensembles will perform selections of classical music 4 p.m. Sunday at the Williams Center for the Arts.
The concert is free and open to the public. Cookies and coffee will be served at its conclusion.
Orchestra director Stephani Bell encourages all to enjoy the eclectic styles of classical music.
“The more people that come out to support classical music, the better because it’s a dying art form,” she says. “The students have put a lot of time and effort into this.”
The Orchestra is performing Sarabande, Giga, and Badinerie by Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), Meditation from “Thais” by Jules Massenet (1842-1912), and Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907).
Accompanied by director of choral activities Nina Gilbert on piano, Bell will perform a violin solo for Meditation by Massenet. She says this selection is an especially beautiful piece that is in the romantic style of classical music.
One of Norway’s most celebrated composers, Grieg is known for his tendency to compose nationalistic violin pieces and include folk tunes in his music. Bell says this sound will come through in Holberg Suite. Marquis Scholar Elizabeth Dethoff ’05 (Reading, Pa.), chemistry major and 1st violin concertmaster, and Lauren Timpson ’08 (Narvon, Pa.), neuroscience major and 1st viola concertmaster, are both soloists in the Grieg selection.
A former member of the Rochester Philharmonic, Bell went on to pursue her violin career in the New York metropolitan area, performing with groups such as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composer’s Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and New York Pops. As a chamber musician, she has performed recently with the Satori Ensemble and Classicopia at Dartmouth College. Recently, she won a section position with the New Hampshire Symphony in Manchester.
Bell earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastman School of Music and is an alumna of the Juilliard School. She also attended Northwestern University, where she held a graduate teaching fellowship. Her teachers include Sally Thomas, Zvi Zeitlin, Gerardo Ribiero, Joyce Robbins, and Richard Simon.
Each of the three chamber ensembles is playing a selection in the concert. Director of Chamber Wind Ensembles Susan Charlton notes that the ensembles also will give a free concert 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, at Interfaith Chapel in Hogg Hall.
The Chamber Wind Ensembles will begin the concert with Overture from “Nutcracker Ballet” by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) and Meditation and March from Suite #1 by Vaclav Nelhybel (1910-1996). Allegro moderato from Quintet in E-flat by Anton Reicha (1770-1836) is the final selection.
Charlton has held principal flute positions with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo Festival Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and Ambrosian Wind Quintet, and was a finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. Locally, she has performed with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Bach Festival Orchestra, Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, and various chamber music ensembles. She has held the positions of instructor of flute and director of wind chamber ensembles at Lafayette since 1992.
A native of St. Paul, Minn., Charlton earned bachelor of music and master of fine arts degrees from University of Wisconsin. Her principal teachers include Robert Cole, Robert Goodberg, and Mary Roberts Wilson. She has performed in master classes given by Julius Baker, Paula Robison, and Thomas Nyfenger.