Published: January 29, 2009 12:44 pm      

Orchestra will fuse romantic strings, hot jazz

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

Three soloists will be in the spotlight as Johnstown Symphony Orchestra prepares for Valentine’s Day.

The orchestra will present “Romance and a Touch of Jazz” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, Richland Township.

There will be no guest soloists for this love-themed performance, but a trio of the orchestra’s musicians will take center stage for solo performances during the first half of the program.

“Quite often we present our own as soloists,” said Maestro Istvan Jaray, music director. “It’s good for the audience to get to see and hear them play. They (audience) have no idea of the pool of talent we have. This gives them the insight into the level of that talent.”

One musician will perform two pieces, while the other two will combine on another.

To help the audience get into the mood, concertmaster and violinist Dena Miller will perform “Romance for Violin and Orchestra,” one written by Beethoven and the other by Dvorak.

“These are two romantic pieces,” Jaray said.

Miller performs orchestral and chamber music in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.

She also performs extensively with the Youngstown, Westmoreland, McKeesport and Beaver Valley symphonies.

A native of Pittsburgh, Miller is a faculty member of Rogers Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Pittsburgh.

She is violinist for Trio Arioso and first violinist of the Schenley String Quartet and Cameron Strings.

Trumpeters Kevin Eisensmith and Matthew Barabas will join forces for Greg McLean’s “The Twain Have Met,” a duo of simultaneous jazz and straight trumpeting that will thrill the audience.

“This is an exciting, bravura piece,” Jaray said. “It’s a recent composition, a fusion of jazz and classical trumpet. It’s a terrific piece that will satisfy both the classical and jazz lovers.”

Saturday’s solo performance will be a first for Barabas, and he will dedicate it to his father.

While attending Carnegie Mellon University, Barabas, who is a Johnstown native, served as principal trumpeter with Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and played with the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic.

The Westmont Hilltop High School graduate began studying the trumpet when he was 9.

Barabas is a 10-year member of Johnstown Symphony and a freelance musician who performs with the Laurel Brass and Touch of Brass quartets.

He also is a founding member of Jazz in Your Face Big Band.

Eisensmith is principal trumpeter with the symphony and a professor of trumpet at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he directs the IUP Jazz Ensemble.

Eisensmith has performed as principal trumpeter with many orchestras in the Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas.

From 1979 to 1984, he served as solo trumpeter with the U.S. Army Forces Command Band in Atlanta and performed more than 700 concerts in 26 states and the Virgin Islands.

Jaray said that when the soloists come from his own orchestra, it gives everyone an advantage.

“When we have a soloist from outside the area, they come in on Friday, and we usually have one rehearsal,” Jaray said.

“When it’s our own players, they prepare the piece themselves, then we can work with them any time. We have more time to rehearse.”

For the second half of the program, the entire orchestra will perform Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88,” which draws its inspiration from the Bohemian folk music the composer loved.



Concert

What: “Romance and a Touch of Jazz.”

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, Richland Township.

Tickets: $26 for reserved seating, $22 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $10 for students.

Information: 535-6738.