Orchestras to Perform All-Stravinsky Concert

The Rite of Spring along with three other works by Igor Stravinsky will come to life at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, December 4, in Ford Hall. This free concert will be performed by the Ithaca College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras under the baton of Grant Cooper.

The chamber orchestra will perform three works in the first half of the concert. Graduate conductor Cayenna Ponchione ’03 leads the seldom-performed Four Norwegian Moods. The Concerto in E-flat for Chamber Orchestra ("Dumbarton Oaks") pays homage to Bach and the baroque concerto grosso form. The symphonic poem The Song of the Nightingale rounds out the half.

After intermission the full symphony orchestra fills the stage for a performance of the ballet The Rite of Spring. Originally choreographed by Nijinsky for the Ballet Russe, The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris in 1913. The famous riot that ensued resulted from an audience totally unprepared for the groundbreaking primal newness, in both the music and the choreography.

Cooper, a professor of music and director of orchestras, is also music director of the West Virginia Symphony and resident conductor of the Syracuse Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor for the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonics. He has received a Tanglewood fellowship as well as conducting fellowships from the Chautauqua Arts Council.