Po-Hi Strings Concert Tuesday

The Ponca City High School Chamber Strings and Symphony Strings will take to the stage to present their Fall Concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. The program will be in the High School Howell Auditorium.

Director of Orchestras at the high school is Dan P. Larson. He is assisted by Paula Cochran, Katie Rolf and student teacher from Oklahoma State University Justyn Stine.

The 25-piece Chamber Strings Orchestra, consisting of primarily 9^th grade students, will open the concert with Vanguard Overture by Richard Stephan. Their portion of the concert will conclude with the first movement of Capriccio Espagnol by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, as arranged for string orchestra by Sandra Dackow.

The 72-piece Symphony Strings Orchestra, made of 10^th through 12^th grade string musicians, will take the stage next. They will open with the first movement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Merle Issac. This energetic work will be conducted by Mr. Stine.

Next, we leave the baroque period of music for the romantic period with Adagio from Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, arranged for string orchestra by Robert Longfield. In 1976, the beautiful melody from this movement inspired pop singer Eric Carmen to write the hit song Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.

The Red Pony by noted American composer Aaron Copland, arranged for string orchestra by Erik Morales, will be next up on the concert. This version is taken from the film suite, completed in 1948. The movie is based upon a novel by John Steinbeck, which describes the tale of a young boy named Jody and his life on a California ranch. The suite has four parts: Morning on the Ranch, Dream March, Walk to the Bunkhouse, and Happy Ending.

Rhythmic Variations on Two Ancient Hymns for String Orchestra by another American composer, Howard Hanson, will continue the concert.

Up next is Vanishing Pointe by Richard Meyer.

Bringing the concert to a close will be Gustav Holst’s Mars from the seven-movement suite The Planets, as arranged for string orchestra by Sandra Dackow. Mars: Bringer of War opens the suite.

There is no admission charge and the public is invited.

The Symphony Strings orchestra is preparing for OSSAA State String Orchestra Contest on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Edmond Santa Fe High School.

The next concert for the two orchestras will be a Holiday Concert with the High School Concert Band at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, in the High School Howell Auditorium.