BERLIN – The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra will usher in spring with a concert designed to bring listeners from Leipzig to London.
For its March event, which includes performances March 19, 21 and 22, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will greet audiences with a variety of upbeat pieces.
“It’s always important to pick a piece that’s cheery for the spring concert,” said Julian Benichou, the MSO’s music director. “Something that’s upbeat.”
During the weekend of performances, which wraps up with a March 22 stop at the Community Church of Ocean Pines, the MSO will perform work by a number of famous composers, including Robert Schumann and Joseph Haydn, among others. MSO principal cellist Lukasz Szyrner will be featured in Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor.
Benichou said the concert would conclude with Haydn’s “London Symphony,” which he considered an ideal for the MSO spring concert.
“It’s upbeat,” Benichou said, adding that Haydn was in London and doing very well when he wrote it. “He was very happy and you can really feel that in the symphony.”
Benichou said this month’s concert was also special because it would include a performance by high school junior Patrick Lill. Lill won the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra’s annual concerto competition in Annapolis Jan. 31. Lill, a clarinetist, will perform the second movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major.
“He’s a delightful player,” Benichou said. “We thought it would fit in very well.”
Benichou, who’s been leading the MSO since 2005, said the orchestra typically offered each year’s winner of the Annapolis competition the chance to perform on the Eastern Shore.
“To play with an orchestra is usually a rare opportunity for a young player,” he said. “The young player gets confidence from it and learns to be a soloist, and it’s also a chance for the audience to discover new talent. It’s a special thing for everybody.”
Tickets for the March concert are $38 and can be purchased by calling 1-888-846-8600 or by visiting www.midatlanticsymphony.org. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available for those under the age of 18 but they must be reserved in advance.