Orchestra

The newly formed Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra will give its premiere concert this Sunday at 3 p.m. in the auditorium at Loch Raven High School.The orchestra, which is made up of Baltimore-area amateurs and professionals, will be conducted by Raphael Faraco, a former Baltimore Symphony Orchestra violinist. Faraco will perform as his own soloist in one of Vivaldi's violin concertos, in addition to conducting Verdi's overture to "La Forza Del Destino," Schubert's Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished")

The Columbia Orchestra, Howard County's premier ensemble for instrumental music, has announced details of its 2001-2002 season. In its 24th year, the orchestra will perform some of the greatest masterworks of the symphonic repertoire. Unlike last season's yearlong tribute to American composers such as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Morton Gould, John Corigliano and John Adams, this season's slate of concerts heads straight for the core of the repertory and, for the most part, stays there.

The student: Kevin McGovern, 11 School: Mount View Middle School Special achievement: Last year, he was accepted to play the bass in the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra. What he says about it: "I was the youngest person chosen since I was in elementary school and it was a high school orchestra. I auditioned without even knowing what it was for. Then Mr. Gatto, the director of the orchestra, said, `I want you to be in my orchestra.' I was excited, and my mom was substitute teaching in my school that day and Mr. Gatto told her and that was great."

Why would an engineer spend 12 years playing the violin in an orchestra and never have earned a nickel for his trouble?The answer, Bruce Kuehne says, is: food for the soul."

The poster promised Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini.But as if thatweren't enough, Saturday's Annapolis Symphony Orchestra concert at Maryland Hall also featured the emotional farewell of associate conductor Karen Deal and the appearance of an extraordinary young Brazilianoboist, Washington Barella, who dispatched the Mozart Oboe Concerto with a virtuosity that was downright irresistible.In one sense, this concert was a look to the future. Karen Deal, a conducting competition winner who is fresh from the rarefied atmosphere of the Tanglewood Conducting Seminar, may one day accede to the directorship of a major orchestra.

Flexibility in matters of phrasing, tempo and stylistic nuance is a hallmark of orchestral conducting at its finest. The Annapolis Symphony has decided that flexibility will be a key component in its search for a conductor to replace Leslie B. Dunner, the charismatic music director whose five years with the ASO ended last season with a decision by the orchestra's board of trustees not to renew his contract. Dunner and his predecessor, the Uruguayan-born Gisele Ben-Dor, were products of a cut-and-dried selection process.

Elijah Wirth likes the sound of the Westminster Symphony. It's just a working title, but the director of Carroll Community College's music department hopes the symphony soon will become a household name. Wirth is collaborating with the music department at McDaniel College to create a community orchestra that would draw talent from both colleges, area high schools and residents. "It has been occupying my life," said Wirth, who became music director at Carroll Community College in June after a year on the adjunct staff.

The Anne Arundel Community College Community Orchestra, a musical organization in just its second year, is a welcome addition to the local arts scene.Founded by Janice Macaulay, a conductor, composer and AACC professor, the Community Orchestra is an aggregation of about 50 spirited amateur and semiprofessional players who do their earnest best to bring great music to life.Macaulay doesn't monkey around. Sunday's Pascal Center concert celebrated Beethoven's 220th birthday with performances of his overture to "The Creatures of Prometheus" and the famous Fifth Symphony.

For nearly half a century, at debutante parties, wedding receptions and ship launchings, and at private parties at estates in the Worthington and Green Spring valleys, or at homes in Guilford, Roland Park and Ruxton, the party really didn't get going until the Rivers Chambers Orchestra started singing its theme song, "Cut Down the Old Pine Tree."They performed it at the Maryland Club, L'Hirondelle and Elkridge clubs and even traveled to Princeton during football season to serenade alumni.

THE FIVE-YEAR labor contract between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its players should provide the orchestra with a tranquil stability to consolidate its gains and build a stronger financial base supporting its art.What should be sought in this period is an end to deficits, at least a token of greater support from suburban subdivisions whose amenities include the nearby BSO, and a search for new corporate donors to replace some that have disappeared or...