Skidmore Orchestra starts 33rd season

The Skidmore College Orchestra opens its 33rd consecutive season at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Arthur Zankel Music Center under the baton of conductor Anthony Holland, associate professor of music.  

Violinist Michael Emery, senior artist-in-residence at Skidmore, will perform Korngold’s violin concerto, also known as the “Captain Blood Overture” from the 1935 film of the same title that starred swashbuckling screen legend Errol Flynn.  

Skidmore senior Kin (Desemond) Siu will make his conducting debut with Smetana’s beautiful “Ma Vlast (Moldeau),” a musical portrayal of the great Vltava River in the Czech Republic.

The approximately 90-member orchestra will also perform the internationally recognized “Song of Eternity” by American composer Mark Dal Porto, and will conclude the concert with the final movement of the Brahms Symphony No. 1.

The first orchestra concert of the year is a Filene Concert Series event at College. Established through the generosity of the Lincoln and Therese Filene Foundation, concerts in this series have included outstanding musicians including pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy and Christopher O'Riley; mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne and soprano Heidi Grant Murphy; jazz pianist Chick Corea and saxophonist Joe Lovano; pipa player Wu Man; and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

Admission for the Nov. 8 concert is $8 adults; $5 seniors, retirees, faculty, and staff; and free for students. For advance reservations or more information, click here or call the Zankel Box Office at (518)-580-5321. The Zankel Music Center is wheelchair accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired.