FALL CONCERT

INTERMEZZI STRINGS - VIRTUOSI STRINGS - CHAMBER WINDS - WIND ENSEMBLE

Join us on November 23rd as the CYS String and Wind Ensembles kick off their 2025-26 season with an exceptionally varied and wide-ranging program featuring all four ensembles. String Ensemble Director Kati Kyme will lead the Intermezzi String Ensemble in quartets by Joseph Haydn, Bedrich Smetana, and Florence Price. Florence Price (1887-1953)  composed over 300 works and was the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, as well as the first to have a composition performed by a major orchestra. She worked in many genres: four symphonies, four concertos, art songs, choral works, and chamber music. She composed her first string quartet in 1929.

The Virtuosi String ensemble will perform works by Mozart, Brahms, and Gershwin.  George Gershwin’s Lullaby (1919) offers a glimpse of the composer’s lyrical gift before his Broadway and concert successes. Though a master melodist, Gershwin typically composed at the piano, shaping music through rich harmonies. This gentle, one-movement piece was written for string quartet and enjoyed private performances among his friends. Its main theme later resurfaced as an aria in Gershwin’s early opera Blue Monday, keeping the music alive through that work’s revivals. The Lullaby itself, however, remained unheard publicly until 1967, when the Juilliard String Quartet finally introduced it to the concert stage. 

Our Chamber Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Anthony Lanzino, will feature works by Mark Wadleigh, Christina Huss & Alan Carter, and Brian Balmages. In Brian Balmages’ 3,2,1, the composer builds dramatic energy from silence into an explosive finale. The work begins motionless as though “everyone is still,” then launches into a countdown that culminates in a surge of intensity and power. 

The CYS Wind Ensemble, also led by Director Lanzino, has prepared a wonderful array of contemporary and tuneful works that include Two Fanfares by Charles Michiels, And Her Light Shines by Christopher Kyle Green, and Earthdance by Michael Sweeney. In celebration of humanity’s bond with the Earth, Earthdance employs a rich palette of compositional techniques and memorable melodies. Listeners are drawn into a vivid soundscape featuring a simulated rainstorm, global percussion rhythms, and overlapping tone clusters and textures—all culminating in a jubilant dance that brings the piece to an exhilarating and fulfilling conclusion.

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to hear the CYS Ensembles perform this rich and wide-ranging program!

INTERMEZZI STRINGS

“Presto” from Quartet in G Major…Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
“Allegro” from Quartet in G Major…Florence Price (1887-1953)
Polka from The Bartered Bride…Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) | arr. Stephen Levintow

VIRTUOSI STRINGS

“Allegro non troppo” from Quartet in Eb Major…Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Lullaby…George Gershwin (1898-1937)
“Allegro non assai” from Quartet in A minor…Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

CHAMBER WINDS

Cheyenne Adventure…Mark Wadleigh (c. 1960)
Scarborough Fantasy…Christina Huss (b. 1962) and R. Alan Carter (b. 1964)
3, 2, 1…       …Brian Balmages (b. 1975)

WIND ENSEMBLE

Two Fanfares…Charles Michiels (b. 1972)
And Her Light Shines…Christopher Kyle Green (b. 1996)
Earthdance…Michael Sweeney (b. 1952)