The Beaufort Symphony Orchestra will end its 2009-2010 season on May 6th and 9th with a program which includes the works of several Russian composers as well as movie themes familiar to screen buffs and music lovers.

Departing slightly from the orchestra’s usual spring fare, this concert will include some works that are a bit more serious in nature.  However, the audience will have no difficulty recognizing the melodies from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet as well as March Slav. The melody of the latter is probably quite familiar to young piano students! ‘The Procession of the Sardar’ and ‘Russian Sailor’s Dance’ will round out the music by Russian composers.

Maestro Devyatkin has also selected a suite of Symphonic Dances from ‘Fiddler On The Roof’.  These are brimming with action bringing to mind the wild excitement of the Klezmer tradition.

Over the last few years The Beaufort Symphony has been pleased to showcase quite a number of the fine orchestral arrangements of our bassoonist, William Baker.  Continuing on the Russian theme, Bill has provided us with ‘Lara’s Theme’, from Dr. Zhivago, and the James Bond classic, ‘From Russia With Love’.  The orchestra is indeed lucky to have Bill offer his talents as a musician and an arranger.

Continuing in the Hollywood vein, BSO will offer themes from the movies, Titanic, Anastasia, and ‘More’, from Mondo Cane.  Maestro Devyatkin is fond of saying that many of today’s best composers are at work in Hollywood and on Broadway.  This collaboration is reminiscent of royal patronage at the time of Mozart and Handel. Certainly, having one’s music in a movie provides a wonderful opportunity for exposure to a vast modern audience.

The Beaufort Youth Orchestra, also under the baton of Fred Devyatkin, will join the BSO during the Sunday Matinee.  Scholarship winners will be announced at both concerts.  Now nearly 50 in number, this talented group of young musicians nearly doubled in the past year. They offer a full symphonic ensemble - including strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion and maintain a full concert schedule. Their growing skills can be measured by those who were selected to represent the group at regional and state events this year.

The Beaufort Youth Orchestra is fortunate to have Greta and Ron Maddox act as liaisons to the orchestra board, serving as strong advocates for our young musicians.  They are especially passionate about preserving a healthy string presence in Northern Beaufort County.  The Orchestra Board is very grateful for the immense amount of time and energy they give to a cause they care so much about.  If you know a young player who would be interested in auditioning for the Beaufort Youth Orchestra, please contact Greta Maddox at 843-838-8001 or Fred Devyatkin at 912-232-7250.

The Beaufort Orchestra is busily planning for next season! We think of ourselves as Beaufort’s great hometown orchestra and look forward to your continuing loyal support. Daniel Adni, world-renowned concert pianist, will return to headline our opening concert in October.  Subscriptions for 2020-2011 will be available at the May 6^th and 9^th concerts and following that, information can be found on line at www.beaufortorchestra.org.  Subscription seating will be on a first come, first served basis. We know you will want to join us for another season to Keep The Music Live!!

THE DETAILS:

The Beaufort Symphony Orchestra

Presents

From Russia (and Hollywood) With Love

Frederick Devyatkin, Musical Director

Selections include:

Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet

March Slav, Dances from “Fiddler on the Roof”

Music from “Titanic”, “Dr. Zhivago”, “Anastasia”

USCB Performing Arts Auditorium

801 Carteret Street, Beaufort

Thursday Evening, May 6th, 2010 - 8:00 P.M. - $30

Sunday Matinee – May 9th, 2010 - 3:00 P.M. - $30

Youth Through High School - $5

Tickets may be purchased on the Beaufort Orchestra’s website www.beaufortorchestra.org or

Call Ticket Fusion’s toll free number 1-877-548-3237

Remaining tickets at the door if available

The concert tops off a demanding semester for the 70-voiced ensemble.  In February, Eighteen Voices traveled to New York to a vocal jazz festival at Lincoln Center. Top vocal jazz ensembles from high schools and colleges across the country gathered for three days to sing with and learn from each other.  The singers received instruction from highly respected vocal jazz musicians, including the festival’s artistic director, Steve Zegree.  Just 3 weeks later, twenty of the singers packed their bags for Rock Hill where they joined in a weekend of master instruction and performing as part of the prestigious South Carolina All-State Choir.

Fast-forward one week, and it’s show time again as the Voices join the Duke Symphony Orchestra for their 6^th joint performance.  Only 3 weeks and 4 days later the group will be ready to entertain us with their semester finale, the Voices’ popular Spring Show.

According to Vic Varner, Voices director and head of Beaufort High’s Vocal program, “Rehearsals will be intense as we fine-tune our performances.  But these kids are dedicated and know what it takes.  To see their faces when they understand the potential that a song offers, or when they first pull off a difficult chord or phrase ----all the hard work is so worth it for them and for me.”

The program for the spring show will be upbeat, including two jazz sets.  “A lot of effort was invested by the whole class, not just those who participated in the jazz festival, and so much learning took place about the complexity and nuances of vocal jazz,” says Varner.  “I feel we just have to share this with the community.”  The singers will perform pieces arranged by Gene Puerling and Steve Zegree, both known for their challenging arrangements.  The program is built around familiar melodies with exciting harmonic twists. Among the songs are “On A Clear Day,” “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars,” “In My Life,” “Just in Time,” and “I’ve Got the World on a String.”

A staged medley of tunes from The Wizard of Oz will finish off the concert.  Varner says he looks forward to tapping the technology capabilities of the new Arts Center at Beaufort High in this part of the show.  BHS Senior Madelyn Johnson who has performed with the Voices for four years, will solo on “Over the Rainbow.”  2010 is the 70^th anniversary of the film release of the noted movie; Harold Arlens’s timeless score for the film is being performed by many ensembles in honor of this milestone.  The song Over the Rainbow has been proclaimed “the Song of the Century” in a list developed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The concert will be performed at 8 PM Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, April 13 and 14 at The Arts Center at Beaufort High School. Tickets are $7 and are available at the door.  For more information call 322-2173 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Billboard Magazine hailed Mac Frampton as “an immensely talented pianist, at home in a wide variety of musical settings.” Now Frampton is bringing that “immense talent” to the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina.

The renowned pianist, a South Carolina native who has performed more than 3,000 concerts worldwide in 30 years as an entertainer, brings his unique take on the classics to Hilton Head at 8 p.m. March 20 with a performance of his show “Pop! Go the Classics.”

The concert is billed as “classical music with a twist of pop.” Accompanied by ThreePenny Symphony – a six-piece ensemble – Frampton merges his conservatory training with his mastery of pop and jazz to bring a fresh and original take on several revered classical works.

“I have constantly made a practice of including at least one, and usually more, pieces in my show that were borrowed directly from the classics,” Frampton said about the inspiration for “Pop!”. “Usually, I would take a well-known classical work and simply give it some sort of a ‘groove.’ ”

Even early in his career, playing for college audiences, Frampton strived to introduce the classics to a new audience in a way that wasn’t “threatening.” “Pop! Go the Classics” was born from that desire.

The show features several jazz-y and modern interpretations of classics – think Bach performed as if he were alive and well in Greenwich Village – such as “Flight of the Bumblebee,” Strauss’ “The Blue Danube,” Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” “Bolero,” Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess” and, Frampton’s personal favorite, Bach’s “Air on a G String.”

“Cecil Welch, our solo trumpeter, is a virtuoso who brings his 20 years of performing worldwide with Henry Mancini to our show,” Frampton said. “His interpretation of ‘Air’ is just beyond beautiful.”

Born the son of a Presbyterian minister, Frampton had lots of chances to test the piano playing waters: entertaining for church suppers, subbing for Sunday services, improvising “Here Comes The Bride” for a home wedding and playing the Sunday School hymns on creaky old uprights.

Frampton studied music at Erskine College in South Carolina and at the Cincinnati Conservatory. Recognition with a special medal in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition followed, establishing him as a classical pianist with legitimate credentials.

It was at the Cliburn Competition that Frampton began to seriously consider an alternative to a classical career.

“I was at a farewell reception, and some of the contestants who knew I improvised pop and jazz asked me to play a few tunes,” he said. “I had just started when Van Cliburn himself walked in. He told me he was impressed with my arrangements and that I should consider doing them professionally.

“I went home and started booking myself with a backup group and found I really loved it.”

Frampton has been a guest soloist with such orchestras as the Boston Pops, Mantovani, Cincinnati, Atlanta and St. Louis. Merv Griffin called him “Dynamite!” He’s shared the stage with the likes of Bill Cosby, Glen Campbell, The Fifth Dimension and Victor Borge, and the Atlanta Constitution said of his show: “How one man can bring the rafters down in Symphony Hall as if a full orchestra were playing is a feat in itself. It’s consummate musicianship. Electrifying!”

“I can’t recall a time in my life when I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,” said Frampton.

Tickets for Mac Frampton are $49 for adults and $39 for kids and are available online at www.artshhi.com or by calling the box office at 843-842-ARTS.