Sierra Vista Symphony Performs Successful Student and Evening Concerts in Sierra Vista, Arizona

On January 22, 2010 the Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra performed its annual student concerts as well as an evening concert of light classical and pops music at the Buena Arts Center. In spite of a severe winter storm with rain and strong winds, all three concerts were well attended.

The student concerts allowed 1000 fifth graders from southeastern Arizona to hear a full symphony orchestra in person. This year the principal sponsors of the concerts were the Sulfur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, ERA Four Feather's Realty - Karen Trevino, and The Ft. Huachuca Community Spouses Club, with financial support also from Horizon Moving and Storage and Pioneer Title.

The orchestra was joined on stage by the members of the Cochise County Youth Orchestra, directed by Danielle Bettencourt, who performed two pieces with the symphony, and one on their own. This is the third year that these young people have performed at the student concerts. It gives them a chance to play with a full orchestra rather than only strings, and it gives the children in the audience a chance to see their age-mates play, hopefully encouraging direct participation in music for many of them.

This year's program included an arrangement of Saint-Seans' Carnival of the Animals arranged for orchestra by Bill Holcombe, without the two pianos originally included in the score. Holcombe's daughter wrote a rhyming narration for it, and his grandson put together a slide show to accompany the music. This was the first performance of this arrangement, and Holcombe and his family came from their homes as far away as New Jersey to be present.

The theme of the evening was romance, in anticipation of Valentine's Day. The first half of the evening concert was light classical music, including Mozart's Overture for The Marriage of Figaro, Edvard Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, two dances from Tschaikowsky's ballet Swan Lake, Johann Strauss Jr.'s On the Beautiful Blue Danube waltzes, Ponchielli's popular Dance of the Hours from the opera La Giaconda, as well as an excerpt from Borodin's Polevetsian Dances.

But the highlight of the evening was in the second half, when Amira Young joined the orchestra. Originally from Kentucky, Ms. Young is now a resident of Sierra Vista. She has studied voice and won competitions in different parts of the country. Her voice is strong and beautiful. She sang the arias Un Bel Di from Madama Butterfly and Oh Mia Babbino Caro from Gianna Schicchi, and a little later in the concert she sang two Gershwin songs, Summertime and My Man's Gone, as well as a duet with Roger Bayes, who is the SVSO Music Director and conductor. The orchestra filled in the half with music from several Broadway shows.

The program was enthusiastically received, as was the encore, Sousa's rousing Stars and Stripes Forever.

The Sierra Vista Symphony has become an integral part of the Sierra Vista community. The student concerts have become a regular event, and the inclusion of the student performers is a more recent, but equally important contribution to the community. Free tickets to the evening series are extended to soldiers at Fort Huachuca regularly. Not many cities the size of Sierra Vista could support a professional symphony, and the enthusiasm of the audience proves the value of the symphony to the community. This partnership continues to benefit all concerned.