Join the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, March 15, at 3pm at MassBay Community College, for its annual Family Concert.
Hosted by Sprague Elementary School music teacher Brian Hagar-McKee, the orchestra will play excepts from Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and Suite Dreams by Lawrence Wolfe, a piece with a libretto by Stephen Gerber that introduces all of the sections of the orchestra.
Actress and soprano Nancy Hoffmann Gerber, whose husband Stephen and son Doug are both composers, will narrate and perform in Suite Dreams.
The concert, conducted by Maestros Max Hobart and John Masko, features the winner of the annual Michael H. Welles Young Soloist Competition, violinist John Matters, playing the first movement of the fiendishly difficult Paganini Violin Concerto. Other pieces on the program include Rossini’s light-hearted overture to The Barber of Seville and the ominous Berkshire Storms by Doug Gerber.
Before the concert at 2:15 PM groups of string, wind, brass and percussion players will play short pieces to introduce their instruments to the children. Because of concerns about coronavirus, the annual petting zoo has been canceled.
The performance is at MassBay Community College, 50 Oakland St.: introduction to the instruments at 2:15 PM, and the concert at 3. There is plenty of free parking. Tickets for the concert are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students, and free for children under 12 and may be purchased at Wellesley Books, Andrews Pharmacy, on-line, and at the door. Call 781-235-0515 or visit www.wellesleysymphony.org.