Patriots Day Concert
Symphony of sounds
By Bethan L. Jones
staff writer
(from March 17, 2005 Lexington Minuteman)
Patriots Day is usually seen as a day of Americans versus the British, but on April 9, the two national forces will be combined in harmony in the Lexington Sinfonietta's Patriots Day concert.
The performances will feature composers from both sides of the Atlantic, and if the concert, the last of the Sinfonietta's 2004-2005 10th anniversary season, is successful, new director Jonathan McPhee plans on maintaining it as an annual event.
McPhee, who is finishing out his first season with the Sinfonietta, said he wanted to have an event which connected to the community's excitement and unity around Patriots Day.
"I wanted to make sure the community knows the orchestra is there," said McPhee. "[Patriots Day] is a very impressive festival of our history."
He said the Patriots Day program was selected to go with the town's celebrations and is "fun and exciting."
The evening will be opened by the Lexington Minute Men, the William Diamond Jr. Fife and drum Corps and the Lexington High School Madrigal Singers. The first performed piece will feature Sir Malcolm Arnold's "English Dances, Set One." Arnold is the only British composer represented and also the only surviving; he received an Academy Award for his score for the film "Bridge on the River Kwai" in 1957.
"'English Dances' are period pieces, but fun," said McPhee.
Amy Beach's "Piano Concerto in C-sharp Minor" will be the second performed piece, bringing the concert back to American soil. Born in New Hampshire in 1869, she is considered one of the first contributing American female composers. The piece will be performed by Lexington resident Paul Carlson.
Composer Arthur Foote was born in Salem and was a rough contemporary of Beach's. His work "Night Music," was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on his birthday in 1933. At the Sinfonietta's performance, Lexington resident Danielle Boudrot will be the principal flutist.
Leonard Bernstein is a name many are familiar with for his work in the theatre and on screen, but few think of him as a local boy, spending much of his life in Cambridge.
"When you think of people from the BSO Tanglewood era...Bernstein is one of the best known," said McPhee.
His work "Fancy Free" is based on three sailors with shore leave and later inspired the musical "On the Town."
"The concert features local talent through the centuries," said McPhee, adding he did not select Revolutionary pieces as the fife and drum corps already "do that so well."
"I chose music that tipped its hat to the day," he said.
Above all, however, McPhee said the concert is a fun, family event.
"You will not be disappointed," he said.
The Patriots Day concert will be held at Cary Memorial Hall on Saturday, April 9, at 8 p.m. A pre-concert talk will be held at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at www.lexingtonsinfonietta.org, by calling 781-863-9581 or by visiting the Wales Copy Center on Massachusetts Avenue.
