SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS Get in tune with season highlights

By TRACEY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
It must be the times.
As the area's symphony orchestras tune up for their upcoming seasons, each one has America on its mind.
Symphonies in Warren, Youngstown and Greenville, Pa., are all planning salutes to American music and composers. And there will be a special treat in December when five-time Grammy award-winning superstar Dionne Warwick performs a holiday show with the Youngstown Symphony.
WARREN
Warren Philharmonic Orchestra will kick off the classical music season Saturday with its "Opening Gala: All That Jazz," celebrating American jazz and swing. American pianist Orion Weiss will perform Ravel's "Piano Concerto in G Major."
The Warren orchestra will present three other concerts this season. "On A High Note" will feature acclaimed soprano soloist Dominque LaBelle performing Italian opera arias. Other selections will include Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet Suite."
A concert for all ages, "Stories and Dances" will feature the Kent State University Gospel Choir, young soloists and stories, dances and imaginary creatures from around the world. The musicians will provide an "instrumental petting zoo" before the performance and during intermission, during which children in the audience may look at, touch and try to play certain instruments.
The final concert of the orchestra's season will be Bizet's "Carmen," an opera in four acts. The Philharmonic's Festival Chorus will perform.
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra will present an exciting music season, offering a classical music repertoire of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven with its Masterworks series. The Pops program will feature salutes to Broadway musicals and the swing era, and Dionne Warwick during the holiday season.
"We try to appeal to a broad range of individuals from young people who might come to the concerts with their parents to those who just might want a nice place to go on a date night, to retirees whose children have left the nest," said Patricia Syak, executive director of the Youngstown Symphony Society. "We hope that our programming year offers something that everyone will enjoy."
Kicking off the symphony's season will be "All American: A Tribute to Our Country's Musical Voice." Pittsburgh Symphony's principal keyboardist, Patricia Prattis Jennings, will perform Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Other selections will include Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story" and Copland's "Billy the Kid Suite."
Other performances in the Masterworks series will include salutes to Italian, French and Russian composers such as Paganini, Ravel and Rachmaninoff. A concert in March devoted to Beethoven will feature Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein, and American pianist Terrence Wilson will perform Grieg's "Piano Concerto" during the orchestra's "Romance" performance in February.
The symphony's Pops series will begin in November with "Heroes, Monsters and Madmen."
Songs from "Man of La Mancha," "Les Miserables," "Carousel" and others will represent heroes. Monster songs will include pieces from "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast" and madmen will be represented with songs from "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Secret Garden."
Warwick will perform at the symphony's holiday concert in December and "Three Broadway Divas" in February will feature Tony-award winner Debbie Gravitte, Jan Horvath and Christiane Noll performing musical theater standards such as "Let Me Entertain You," from "Gypsy"; "Big Spender" from "Sweet Charity"; and "Sing For Your Supper" from "The Boys of Syracuse."
The final show in the Symphony's Pops series will feature Five by Design in "Radio Days," which will pay tribute to the days when radio ruled. The performance will interweave music from the likes of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey with segments from vintage serials, comedies and quiz shows.
GREENVILLE
The Greenville Symphony Orchestra will celebrate its 75th birthday with a series of three concerts. The first, "Let The Celebration Begin," will feature music from "The Man of La Mancha" and "Lord of the Rings," concluding with Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
In February the orchestra will salute great American composers with "All American!" The program will include favorites by Frank Sinatra, Broadway tunes from Andrew Lloyd Webber and movie soundtracks from Henry Mancini. A barbershop quartet will perform before the concert.
The Greenville Orchestra's final concert will be "A Grand Fireworks Finale," a high-energy show including Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Other featured artists will include Mozart, Dvorak, Bizet, Irving Berlin and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Shenango Valley Choral and the Thiel College Choir will perform with the symphony.