Masters of the Classics: Lincoln-Sudbury Civic Orchestra

The Lincoln-Sudbury Civic Orchestra opens its 50th season on Sunday January 8, under the leadership of its gifted new conductor Alfonso Piacentini in a program of the classical masters Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig von Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn. The concert begins at 3:00 PM.

Maestro Piacentini joins the orchestra for its first concert under his baton. Piacentini was appointed conductor following the departure of another emerging conducting star Luca Antonucci who directed the orchestra for three years. Antonucci left to pursue Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting at the University of Michigan. Maynard resident and Lexington music educator Chris Brainard is the newly appointed concertmaster in her first appearance in this role.

Pianist Marvin Wolfthal joins the orchestra as soloist for the last piano concerto penned by Mozart, his 27th concerto. This is Mr. Wolfthal’s second appearance with LSCO.

The program opens with the overture Fingals Cave, originally published as The Hebrides by Mendelssohn. His inspiration came during a visit to the Scottish island of Staffa, where he saw the Fingal’s sea cave.

The last concerto for piano and orchestra, #27 in B flat major was composed in the last months of Mozart’s short and tragic life. Soloist Marvin Wolfthal will introduce the work with comments from the stage about its context in Mozart’s waning months.

A short intermission will be taken. The second half of the program is Beethoven’s Symphony #1 in C major, a landmark symphony in the development of the classical symphony form.

The concert will be livestreamed by the Sudbury Cable TV channel. Visit www.sudburtv.org, and under the ‘Watch’ menu, click “Live Stream Educational Channel”. The direct link is: https://sudbury.vod.castus.tv/vod/?live=ch2&view=5.

The concert will take place at 3:00 PM at the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School at 390 Lincoln Rd in Sudbury. Admission is a suggested donation of $20. Contact lscivicorchestra@gmail.com or lsco.publicity@gmail.com for more information about the concert.

Founded in 1973 as a community orchestra for high school musicians to work with adult musicians of Lincoln and Sudbury, LSCO begins its 50th year in operation. The group is always looking for new players. Interested amateur musicians are welcome and encouraged to contact the orchestra leadership by email at lscivicorchestra@gmail.com. Visit LSCO on the web at https://lscivicorchestra.org.

LSCO is supported in part by grants from the Sudbury Cultural Council and Lincoln Cultural Council, local cultural council in the Massachusetts Cultural Council system.