Half Moon Orchestra performs holiday show at Munson
Ah, it’s that time of year again, time to enjoy all those great Christmas artists – Bing, Gene Autry, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Vivaldi …
Wait, what? Vivaldi a Christmas artist?
Well, if Mike Dimeo and his Half Moon Orchestra have anything to say about it, maybe he will be soon.
DiMeo, a longtime fixture in the local music scene, and his Half Moon Orchestra will be augmenting their usual Pops repertoire when they perform at the venue formerly (and, for me, forever) known as Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16.
The program will not only include a selection of holiday tunes but also classical masterpieces featuring solo performances.
“As far as the classical pieces, we wanted to feature our concert mistress, Claire Wilcox, director of the NHHS Orchestra, on ‘Winter’ from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”,” explains Dimaio “We decided that we’d like to feature other members, so we decided to add Vivaldi’s Concerto for two cellos, featuring Joanna Robertson and Andrew Giotto, and Vivaldi’s Concerto for two violins featuring Margie Morgan Davies and Anna Anggaputra.”
Keeping with the featured soloist theme, Mike will be featured on a trumpet solo on “O, Holy Night.” The rest of the program will be pop holiday arrangements and classical selections.
Half Moon Orchestra was started in 2022 by Frank and Andrew Giotto when they partnered with DiMeo. Together they gathered local musicians who donate their time and talents to help grow the community ensemble with the intention of creating an orchestra that would offer audiences of the Mohawk Valley a variety of modern, engaging, and well-known music.
“The Half Moon Orchestra’s mission is to provide audiences of the Mohawk Valley with a variety of modern, engaging, and well-known music,” says orchestra General Manager Samantha Schmatz. “The goal focuses on providing accessible concerts to all people, including those who would normally not be able or interested to experience the joy of live orchestral music.”
Dimeo was a natural choice to lead a large ensemble, after a career that has seen him conduct the Utica Symphony Orchestra, the New Hartford Citizens Band, the Utica University Band, the Magnificent Yankees Drum Corp and the New Hartford High School concert and jazz bands.
After spending most of the past year working on and performing more contemporary tunes, the musicians are looking forward to the change of direction.
“Our players have really enjoyed working on these classical pieces after spending much of the summer months performing pop and rock music,” notes Samantha. “’Christmas Eve Sarajevo’ and ‘Winter’ are two of our highest energy and intense pieces that all the musicians have been enjoying.”
Tickets to museum members are free and general audience tickets are $10. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.munson.art/special-event/half-moon-orchestra.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Half Moon Orchestra performs Christmas set at Munson
