TOPSHAM, ME —The Midcoast Symphony Orchestra (MSO), conducted by Rohan Smith, continues the company’s 35th season with a concert entitled “Invigorating Water Music” which takes place at the Franco Center in Lewiston on Saturday, January 18 at 7pm and the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham on Sunday, January 19 at 2:30pm.  The concerts feature a number of short family-friendly pieces, including two selections from both Handel’s Water Music and Duke Ellington’s The River Suite. The MSO’s January concert traditionally is programmed to appeal to young audience members, and in keeping with that commitment, the concerts feature a number of components showcasing students, as well as the annual “Meet the Instruments” events, which allow people of all ages to try orchestral instruments. Individual tickets for “Invigorating Water Music” are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, with free entrance to any audience member 25 and under. Complete concert and ticket information is available at midcoastsymphony.org or by calling the box office at (207) 481-0790.

The program for “Invigorating Water Music” includes two movements from Handel’s Water Music, which was composed in 1717 and premiered by a boat full of 50 musicians trailing the king’s King George I’s boat on the River Thames. The concert also features two movements from Duke Ellington’s The River Suite, from a score commissioned by Alvin Ailey for his American Ballet Theater in 1970. Other works the MSO brings to life include: Charles Ives’ “The Housatonic at Stockbridge,” the final melodic movement of the composer’s Three Places in New England; a fascinating modern composition by Alan Hovhaness, And God Created Great Whales, that included actual whale sounds; Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides (Overture), inspired by Fingal’s Cave on the namesake islands; and the stirring “The Moldau” from Má Vlast, by Czech composer Bed?ich Smetana.  Joining the MSO for the first movement of Tomasi’s Trombone Concerto is trombonist Joshua Zhang, winner of the biennial Judith Elser Concerto Competition. Joshua Zhang is a computer science and music double major at Colby College from Wayland, Massachusetts who began playing trombone in fourth grade. Additionally, Lewiston High School alumnus Kyle Almquist, winner of the MSO’s silent auction last spring and son of MSO horn player Beth Almquist, conducts the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Theme” from Swan Lake. The final youth component for these concerts takes the form of artwork, created by students from Connors Elementary in Lewiston,  Bowdoinham Community School, Brunswick Junior High, Mt. Ararat Middle School, and the Portland Arts and Technology High School, that will be shown during several of the pieces.

In keeping with the focus on youth for this concert, each concert will be preceded by the popular “Meet the Instruments” event, at which audience members of all ages can try many instruments featured in the symphony’s performance. MSO musicians will be present to provide instruction and guidance on how to play their instrument.  This event begins one hour before each of the two concerts – at 6pm in the Heritage Hall at the Franco Center and at 1:30 in the gym at the Mt. Ararat Middle School (where the Orion Performing Arts Center is located). Interested members of the public may attend this free event without purchasing a concert ticket, and MSO is offering up to two complimentary tickets to parents accompanying children under 18 to the concert. The Saturday, January 20th concert will also feature Buckfield High School student Noah Smith performing on his clarinet during intermission in Heritage Hall at the Franco Center.  Noah Smith began his journey studying clarinet at age 9 at a conservatory in France and is continuing his studies in Maine with David Hoagland.  He has performed as principal clarinet with the Kennebec Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra and will be principal clarinet at All-State Festival in May. Both of these events are part of the MSO’s enrichment series entitled “More with Midcoast.”

he public is invited to read more about all of the compositions that are part of the 2024/25 MSO season on its website at www.midcoastsymphony.org.

Meet the Instruments (photo credit Heather Linkin)