Orchestra will close its season with classics

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra will end its season Saturday with a concert that will include works by Elgar and Tchaikovsky.

The performance begins at 8 p.m. at Powers Auditorium.

Joining the orchestra will be the Youngstown Symphony Youth Orchestra, directed by Stephen Gage and assisted by Richard Smrek.

Tickets are available at youngstownsymphony.com, by phone at 330-744-0264 and at the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office, 260 W. Federal St.

The YSO, under the direction of Randall Craig Fleischer, will begin the evening with Edward Elgar’s “Enigma” variations. Written in 1899, the piece began as a melody that the composer played on the piano and quickly expanded to 14 variations, each named for a friend or acquaintance.

DeBussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” will conclude the first half of the concert.

The YSO Youth Orchestra will take the stage during the second half in a side-by-side performance of the second, third and fourth movements of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. The composer has referenced the piece as “our symphony,” which he dedicated to Madame Nadia Filaretovna Meck, his confidante and benefactress.

The Youngstown Symphony Symphonette, a string ensemble of students directed by Michele Prokop, will perform before the evening concert, starting at 7 p.m.

On Sunday, the YSO and Fleischer will give a free Stained Glass Series concert at 3 p.m. at Boardman United Methodist Church, 6809 Market St. The concert will feature Sean Baran, organist at the church, performing the first movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in Re Minore, and Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus from “The Messiah” and “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” from Brahms’ “Requiem” by the Boardman UMC Choir.

Pittsburgh-based vocalist Tania Grubbs will also join the orchestra in a performance of Fleischer’s arrangement of “Coming to Youngstown” at the concert.