By Sophie Foster
News Co-Editor
The latest event of the Washington College Concert Series came as a joint endeavor in conjunction with the William James Forum. A performance from the Mid-Atlantic Symphony took place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5 in Hotchkiss Recital Hall in the Gibson Center for the Arts.
The performance featured violinist Kimberly McCollum, violaist Yuri Tomenko, cellist Diana Golden, double bassist Chris Chlumsky, and pianist Woobin Park. The quintet performed two piano pieces from nineteenth century classical music catalogs. The first was the Piano Quintet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 30 by Louise Farrenc, and the second was Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout” by Franz Schubert.
Tickets were sold online, and the event was open to students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra aims “to provide the Delmarva and surrounding regions with access to classical music performed by a professional symphony orchestra. [Their] mission is to inspire, enrich, educate, and entertain a diverse audience of all ages through unique live musical performances,” according to its website.
The members of the orchestra are all residents of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, which presents an advantage, according to their website.
“We have the advantage of a prize musical assemblage in the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra,” the website says. “Few communities our size can boast, or support, such a cultural undertaking, but we do. In the end, we gain much more than it costs us.”
According to the website, the orchestra was born in the late twentieth century, when several Eastern Shore residents gathered together to approach conductor Don Buxton following a concert to meet with them and discuss the establishment of an orchestra on the Delmarva peninsula. Following this request, a volunteer board was organized with the aim of launching and supporting the orchestra.
“Thus, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra was incorporated in May 1997, with the mission ‘to enrich life in the Mid-Atlantic region through the power of live classical music,” the website says.
This is not the final event in the concert series, which endeavors to develop a space for students and members of the College community to share a collective experience of the act of watching, creating, celebrating, and enjoying music of all kinds in all genres. According to the Washington College website, the next event in the series, “Signals from a Shattered Planet,” will be held on Monday, Nov. 14.
“Signals from a shattered planet…is a sci-fi audiovisual fantasy composed for large scale projection, live cameras, live and looped voice, sound and video synthesizers,” the website says.
Students interested in staying up to date with the concert series or attending future events produced by the program can get connected by checking in for updates on their page on the College’s website at www.washcoll.edu/about/campus/gibson-center-for-the-arts/concert-series/. Events will also be announced to the community via email, and will be held in the Gibson Center for the Arts.
Photo by Mia Snyder
Photo Caption: The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra performing in Hotchkiss Recital Hall.