ONNY to mark 'Season of Discovery' for its 36th year

Aug. 9—POTSDAM — When the Orchestra of Northern New York opens its 36th season on Sept. 2, it will celebrate a "Season of Discovery," with a world premiere, four new guest conductors — two of whom are finalists for the position of ONNY's next music director — and a money-back guarantee for first-time concert-goers.

The season begins at the Clayton Opera House with "Dances and Escapades" on Sept. 2, conducted by Brian Doyle, Director of Bands at the Crane School of Music since 2006. He also conducts the Crane Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, as well as teaches courses in conducting.

The program Doyle selected includes " Mere l'Oye (the Mother Goose Suite)" by Maurice Ravel; "Breathe" by Carlos Simon, and "Appalachian Spring" by Aaron Copland. A special work premiering for the first time anywhere will be "Escapades," by John Anthony Lennon.

Performing the soprano saxophone solo will be former Crane School of Music professor Christopher Creviston, who will be joining the orchestra from Arizona.

The second performance of "Dances and Escapades" will be Sept. 3 in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam.

October concert

The fall concert features Michael J. Colburn as conductor, one of the two finalists for the music director position. Colburn is the former director of "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band. He also was the leader of its chamber orchestra, in which he conducted musicians primarily for performances at the White House.

He has programmed Felix Mendelssohn's "Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave)," George Walker's "Lyric for Strings," Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol" and Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations."

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 in Hosmer Hall and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29 at First Presbyterian Church, Watertown.

'Holiday in Brass'

ONNY encourages the public to celebrate "Holiday in Brass," which will welcome a 23-piece brass and percussion ensemble to the stage. James Madeja, a retired Crane School of Music professor of trumpet as well as a former member of the Potsdam Brass Quintet, will conduct.

Works will range from Fisher Tull's "Variations on an Advent Hymn," Valerie Coleman's "Umoja: The First Day of Kwanzaa" and "Festive Sounds of Hanukkah" arranged by Bill Holcombe and Bill Holcombe Jr. "Christmas Fanfare for Brass and Percussion," "Suite of Carols for Brass Choir" and "Christmas Toons" will be some of the other works to be performed.

The holiday concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17 at First Presbyterian Church, Watertown.

April 'Visions'

The April concert introduces the second finalist for the position of ONNY Music Director. Adrian T. Slywotzky is currently Director of Orchestras at the Crane School of Music. He is a prizewinner of the Atlantic Coast International Conducting Competition in Portugal in 2016 and the Audite International Conducting Competition in Poland in 2017. For three years, he was the Associate Director of Orchestraas at the University of Michigan.

His program choices are titled "Visions and Reflections" and include "The Abduction from the Seraglio" by Amadeus Mozart; "Crystal Gazing" by Dolores White; "Le Tombeau de Couperin" by Maurice Ravel and "Symphony No. 2" by Jean Sibelius.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27, in Hosmer Hall and at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 28, in First Presbyterian Church, Watertown.

a july 'Salute'

The final concert of the season will be "An American Salute," a rousing program of American music such as "Liberty Bell March" by John Philip Sousa, "Cuban Overture"by George Gershwin, selections from "The Sound of Music" by Richard Rodgers, "The Cowboys" by John Williams, among several others.

The program will be conducted by Michael Colburn.

Performances are slated for 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 2, at Watertown's Thompson Park and at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, in Hosmer Hall. The concert will also be performed for free at 7 p.m. July 4 at Thousand Island Park on Wellesley Island.

Tickets for all concerts may be purchased online at onny.org or by phone at 315-212-3440.

First-time concertgoers are promised a money back guarantee. If not completely satisfied with their initial ONNY musical experiences, they will receive a full refund.

The search for a new ONNY music director was initiated more than a year ago when orchestra founder and director Kenneth B. Andrews announced his retirement, which became effective in July. The search committee for a new director originally, in May, named three finalists. However, on the Facebook page of finalist Rachel Waddell, she posted in June that effective this month, she will be the next conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra and director of orchestras at Colorado State University. She had been director of orchestral activities in the Arthur Satz Department of Music at the University of Rochester and the music director for the University of Rochester Orchestras.