Home Page
Check us out on Facebook!
Gala 10th Season a Stunning Success!
Three concert weekends… three World Premieres! That’s the way to celebrate 10 years of bringing fine music to Lancaster!
Allegro began with a vision that encompassed both music and community. Our goal has consistently been to bring the finest music for chamber orchestra to our audience, and also to create a warm community of musicians and listeners that breaks down the barriers between stage and concert hall.
But, in those initial years, we could not have known that another very important vision would be undertaken: to champion new music for chamber orchestra! And for our Gala 10th, what better way to celebrate than to bring not one but three new works to life!
The process of choosing composers, setting the parameters of the pieces to be commissioned, and publicizing our Commissioning Project actually began nearly two years before the first Premiere. The Board of Directors discussed several possibilities, eventually deciding to invite two composers that had previously had Premiere works with Allegro: Arlen Clarke and Ralph Lehman. Artistic Director Brian Norcross suggested the third composer, Rosanno Galante, based on previous work with him.
The first work to be premiered in our Gala 10th Season, on June 11, 2011, was Arlen Clarke’s Down the Labyrinthine Ways: Seasons of the Heart. This seven-movement programmatic work uses the metaphor of a labyrinth (a maze walked for spiritual reflection) in different seasons. There are extensive program notes by Carol Goldsmith in our Program Archive. Allegro had previously premiered two works by Mr. Clarke, Cinco de Molly (a horn concerto written for Molly Norcross) and Nocturne for Julia (commissioned in memory of Mrs. Julia Oliver). Arlen Clarke resides in Greenville, South Carolina, where he is Choirmaster at St. Mary's Catholic Church and Artistic Director of Concordiae: Sea of Harmony. Down the Labyrinthine Ways was made possible through the kind support of Commissioning Sponsor Mrs. Ann Barshinger.
On July 9, 2011, our second World Premiere was Ralph Lehman’s Laudo Per Gaudium (To Praise with Joy). Based in Elizabethtown, Mr. Lehman also had had two previous Premieres with Allegro: his Chamber Symphony and a work written in honor of principal flutist Vicki Hill, Conversations. Program notes, written by Mr. Lehman himself, are posted in our Program Archive. Our Commissioning Sponsor for Laudo per Gaudium was Mr. Charles Turner, of Turner and Associates, Hershey, PA.
Our final World Premiere occurred on August 13, with the performance of The Throne of Christ by Rossano Galante. Born in Buffalo, NY but now based in California, Mr. Galante has had a very successful career as a film composer and orchestrator. Doug Albert’s program notes are available in our Program Archive. Our Commissioning Sponsors for The Throne of Christ were John, Gloria and Geoff Hess, in memory of John’s father and mother, John & Helen Hess.