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Youngstown Symphony Orchestra finds inspiration in windows at St. John's
YOUNGSTOWN
The world premiere of “Coming to Youngstown,” composed and arranged and directed by Randall Craig Fleischer, was performed Sunday by members of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra as the finale of a Stained Glass Concert at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
“Coming to Youngstown,” inspired by 10 circular stained-glass windows at St. John’s that portray the steel industry in pictures accompanied by biblical verses, was not premiered Sunday because it is just two days away from the anniversary of Black Monday, which marked a dark day for the steel industry in the Mahoning Valley.
Instead, said Fleischer, musical director of the Youngstown Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Anchorage Symphony orchestras, “it is a striking coincidence.”
“The piece [‘Coming to Youngstown’] is uplifting and optimistic and a celebration of this space,” he said, referring to the magnificence of St. John’s, “and the Mahoning Valley.”
Performing “Coming to Youngstown” was a homecoming for featured vocalist Tania Grubbs of Pittsburgh.
Grubbs, a graduate of Salem High School and Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music, sang while in college as a paid member of St. John’s Chancel Choir. As a child, she came from Salem to Youngstown for Sunday dinners with her grandparents, Frank and May Vasko, her mother’s parents.
“I was very proud to be asked to be a part of this,” said Grubbs, whose husband, Jeff, also a graduate of Dana School of Music, is a bassist with the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Though “Coming to Youngstown,” which featured snippets of Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer,” “Erie Canal Song,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Battle Cry of Freedom,” may have been the sentimental favorite piece of the concert, judging by the prolonged standing ovation, it was just part of a varied and beautiful hour of symphony music.
Other composers whose works were performed included Antonio Vivaldi, Johannes Brahms, Russian composer and director Tchaikovsky, and John Williams, who wrote the score for many movies, including “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
The Stained Glass Concerts are presented up to four times during the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra’s concert season at community houses of worship. The performances are open to the public, and admission is free.
Future Stained Glass Concerts are scheduled for Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. at St. Rose Roman Catholic Church, 48 Main St., Girard; and Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. at Congregation Rodef Sholom, 1119 Elm St., Youngstown.