Composers often find inspiration from other music, drawing from history, tradition, and artistic lineage. The Music That Inspires Us begins with Reena Esmail’s Avartan, a transcendent fusion of Indian and Western classical traditions. Next on the program is Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte for string orchestra. Written in 2011, the piece was inspired by a moment in a Haydn string quartet where the music suddenly shifts in tone and texture. Shaw describes Entr’acte as “taking you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass,” a kind of musical portal that begins in a classical idiom and gradually distorts it. We will conclude the program with Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite. Taken from his ballet on the Italian commedia dell’arte character, the Pulcinella Suite is a witty and colorful homage to 18th-century Italian Baroque music filtered through Stravinsky’s modernist lens.
Repertoire
- Reena Esmail: Avartan
- Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte
- Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
This concert will be approximately 1hr, no intermission. Reception to follow.
Bring the whole family to our “Meet the Instruments” petting zoo where even our youngest listeners can get up close and personal with their favorite instruments before seeing them come alive onstage. Then find your seats for our enchanting and engaging Family concert! Narrator Sarah Ziegler will guide you through musical selections from our MainStage concert “The Music that Inspires Us.”
- 2:15pm-2:45pm: Meet the Instruments
- 3pm-3:45pm: Family Concert
Best for children age 1-10 and their families.
*All attendees must purchase a ticket. Infants under the age of 1 receive complimentary admission.
WHCO Family concerts are relaxed performances.
Picnic blanket and bug spray? Check.
Besties and bodega sandwiches? Check and check.
Good vibes? Guaranteed.
Start August off on a high note with our LAST Back Porch Concert of the season! Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra has a special hour long performance for ALL ages and ALL music tastes, including works by Coleman, D’Rivera, Beach, Reicha, Joplin, Gershwin, and Schifrin.
So, go ahead and send this flyer in the family group chat—it’s time to get the crew together and soak up every bit of summer before it ends!
Date: Saturday, August 2nd
Time: 5-6pm
Cost: FREE
Location: Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (on the corner of 204th and Broadway)
Featuring the string players of the orchestra, the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra concludes our season with Landscapes, a musical homage to the distant lands that are a part of our heritage.
Program:
- Fela Sowande: African Suite for Strings
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
Even those born and raised in Washington Heights tend to look back to their heritage in a distant homeland. Talking about “where we are from” is one of the most common unifying conversations in our community. We conclude our 10th anniversary season exploring heritage with Landscapes, featuring the string players of the WHCO in two large format works hailing from Nigeria and Russia. Fela Sowande is considered the father of modern Nigerian music, and his piece African Suite for Strings seamlessly blends both original and traditional themes from countries like Nigeria and Ghana into its five contrasting movements. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is synonymous with the Russian musical output of the late 19th century and was responsible for other powerhouse works like 1812 Overture and The Nutcracker. We conclude the program with his Serenade for Strings. Tchaikovsky himself believed that this work was one of the finest pieces he ever wrote, stating it is “a piece from the heart, and so, I venture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities.”
Prior to the concert, at 2:15pm, bring the whole family to our “Meet the Instruments” petting zoo where even our youngest listeners can get up close and personal with their favorite instruments before seeing them come alive onstage. This event will take place (weather permitting) in the beautiful setting of the Fort Washington Green, the community garden space at FWCC.
We are honored to be a part of the Morris-Jumel Mansion‘s Women’s History Month Kick-off celebration on Saturday 3/1 along with artist Andrea Arroyo, author Margaret Oppenheimer, and poet Lisa “Rubi G” Ventura!
WHCO musicians flutist Anna Urrey, violinist Ashley Windle, violist Hannah Burnett, and cellist Valeriya Sholokhova, will perform a beautiful program for flute and string trio from 1:30-2pm in the Octagon Room.
These special events throughout the day are free with admission to the museum! Hope to see you there!!
