THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, FEbrUAry 14, 2025 Page 9 North Shore Philharmonic Winter Concert Features Music of Ravel, Barber, Rachmaninoff R ussian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff ’s demanding Symphony No. 3 and Maurice Ravel’s delightful “Mother Goose Suite” highlight the program when Music Director Robert Lehmann conducts the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra in its Winter Concert Sunday, February 23 at Swampscott High School auditorium. Concert time is 3:00 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door or can be purchased in advance at www.nspo.org for $30, $25 for seniors and students. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Also on the concert program is the First Essay for Orchestra by American composer Samuel Barber. Rachmaninoff, renowned for his works for piano, wrote three symphonies, with some 40 years separating the fi rst and third. Critics claimed that the Third was too much a “modern” piece and it was not well-received by audiences. Over the years, however, Rachmaninoff ’s Third Symphony has earned its place in the symphonic Repertoire for its orchestral color. ASKS | FROM PAGE 3 val event committee? Who are the chairs? All Cultural Council members or Saugus residents from outside the council? A: Victoria “Tori” Darnell, Co-Chair; Joseph “Dennis” Gould, Co-Chair; Niveditha Amarnath, Treasurer; Vanessa LeFevre, Secretary; Mary Kinsell, Voting Member; Vanessa Dellheim, Voting Member; Kayla Villefranche, Youth Member; Yoela Similien, Youth Member. Stephanie M. Shalkoski, Carol Wallace and Alan Thibeault provided advice throughout the planning and executing phases. Q: How many hours have you invested in planning the Cultural Festival? A: Oh, I have no idea but Music Director Robert Lehmann conducts the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra “Winter” concert Sunday, February 23 at Swampscott High School. Ravel, well-known his affection for children and animals, originally wrote a piano suite for four hands based on the famous Mother Goose stories in 1908 and four years later wrote the Orchestration. The imaginative, medodic music evokes the wonderment of the characters “Pavane for Sleeping Beauty”, Tom Thumb, the Laideronette—Empress of the Pagodas, “Beauty and the Beast”, ly to plan the Festival since April 2024. Q: Let’s talk about the logistics. How much does an event like this cost? Do you have some benevolent sponsors to help put it together? A: We started with a $2,500 festival grant award from the Mass Cultural Council. Our major sponsor is WIN Waste Innovations, who donated $5,000. Tax of Life is our corporate sponsor. They gave us $500. We have received multicultural fl ag donations from New Hope Assembly of God in Saugus and General Electric in Lynn to help with festival decorations. There are about 30 fl ags that will be loaned to us. Q: What were the biggest challenges in putting this event together? A: Town logistics! This is we met together month- most of the Cultural Counand, fi nally, a celebration of nature in The Enchanted Garden. Barber wrote the Essay for Orchestra in 1937— (it was later retitled “First Essay for Orchestra)—apparently at the invitation to the celebrated Italian conductor Arturo Toscannini, who conducted the first performance with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a program that included Barber’s now-famous “Adagio for cil’s fi rst time organizing a large event. We are an entity of the Town so we worked with [Finance Director and Treasurer/Collector] Wendy Hatch and [Town Accountant] Donna Matarazzo to know what we needed to do this right. Q: Why in the wintertime and not in the summer or spring or fall? A: The Cultural Council did not want to compete with already Town-established events so we are trying out the winter season. We will see how it goes! We chose Feb. 23, because it’s the last day before kids go back to school from their February vacation. We felt this was a good day to do something nice for them as they ended their vacation. Sunday ASKS | SEE PAGE 10 The North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra performs its “Winter” Concert Sunday, February 23 at Swampscott High School. Strings.” The Essay form of musical composition develops a complex and thoughtful work from a single thesis. The North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra is playing its 76th season. Staffed largely by volunteer players, the NSPO is committed to providing affordable access to quality classical music. The Orchestra strives to develop, train, and provide opportunities for young musicians, while providing a large range of programs covering the full range of symphonic and pops repertoire for a diverse public. For full concert information, visit www. nspo.org or contact info@ nspo.org. THE FESTIVAL LOGO: This artist’s rendering of fl ags of numerous countries quilted together as one is being used to promote Saugus’ First Annual Cultural Festival. (Courtesy art to The Saugus Advocate)
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