Concord Orchestra hosts ‘The Power of Nostalgia’

March 16, 2023

The Concord Orchestra presents “The Power of Nostalgia” at 8 p.m. on March 25 and 3 p.m. on March 26 at the Performing Arts Center at 51 Walden St. The orchestra, directed by Channing Yu, performs a program of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Bamboula: Rhapsodic Dance, Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Max Bruch’s Symphony No. 3. A prelude recital by violinist Henry Lee precedes the concert on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. A pre-concert talk by the conductor is scheduled for Sunday at 2:15 p.m.

Guest conductor Channing Yu is the music director of the Mercury Orchestra in Cambridge and associate artistic director of the Refugee Orchestra Project in New York City. He is the national winner of the 2010 American Prize in Orchestral Conducting in the community orchestra division.

Max Bruch (1838-1920) wrote his Third Symphony in 1884. It has a lovely, lyrical slow movement, cheerful scherzo, and exciting finale. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 -1912), an English composer whose father was born in Africa, wrote Bamboula: Rhapsodic Dance in 1910. The bamboula is the name of a drum and a dance that was brought to America and the Caribbean by African slaves. 

Lazar Kaminsky, 16, performs Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Lazar has won competitions and performed major solo, chamber, and orchestral works around the world. He has won multiple competitions and. Lazar has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras. Lazar has performed in many parts of the world, including New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Italy, Spain, Israel, France and Mexico.

This program is supported in part by grants from the Acton-Boxborough, Bedford, Carlisle, and Concord Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Tickets for adults and seniors are $25. Admission for youth under 18 is free. Masks are required in the concert hall. Full immunization against COVID is strongly recommended, but proof of vaccination will not be required for attendance. For tickets and information, call 978-369-4967 or visit www.concordorchestra.com.