THE PROGRAM

COMMUNITY DRUM CIRCLE
(5:30 PM - 6 PM)

Community Drum Circle led by Kuumba Dance & Drum Academy/Operation Unite. Zorkie Nelson will lead the drumming, and dancers will include Elena Mosely, founder/director, Debbie Waithe, Addison Geer, and Tisi Bishop.

HUDSON FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
(6 PM - 8 PM)

FIRST HALF

• “Liberty Fanfare” by John Williams conducted by Gwen Gould. “Liberty Fanfare” was commissioned by the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation to celebrate the Centennial of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986. Before the premiere of the piece, Williams commented that he had "tried to create a group of American airs and tunes that will give some sense of the event and the occasion."  Reviewing the Boston performance, Anthony Tommasini wrote that “as fanfares go, it is a humdinger!”

• “La Boda de Luis Alonso”: IV. Intermedio by Geronimo Gimenez (with dancers to be confirmed), conducted by Gwen Gould. La Boda de Luis Alonso (The Wedding of Luis Alonso), written in 1897, is a zarzuela, a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance. Gimenez was a Spanish composer and conductor who spent most of his career writing zarzuelas. At the age of 12, he was a first violin at the Teatro Principal and soon began conducting performances in his hometown of Seville, Spain. He won a First Prize in Harmony and Counterpoint at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 17, beating out fellow classmate Claude Debussy. The Intermedio of this zarzuela became one of the most popular zarzuela excerpts of all time.

• “Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop” by Hans Christian Lumbye conducted by Noah Palmer.  Beginning with the 'pop' of a champagne cork, the “Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop” recreates the sounds of a train chugging out of a station and grinding to a halt at the next stop. This was composed in 1847 to celebrate the opening of the first railway in Denmark between Copenhagen and Roskilde.  We perform it to celebrate our Hudson Amtrak station!

• Ukrainian Songs sung by Vira Slywotzky, contralto, arranged and conducted by Dávid Bánóczi-Ruof.
   "Va, l'error mio palesa" from Mitridate, K. 87
      by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    "In Haven (Capri)" from Sea Pictures, Op. 37
      by Edward Elgar
    "Ya ne molyus dawno" Op.10 No.3
      by Pavlo Senystia
    "Ви музики грайтє" from Five Ukrainian Folksongs
    by Yuli Meitus

• “Blue Tango” by Leroy Anderson, conducted by Gwen Gould. “Blue Tango,” written in 1950, is a novelty among Anderson's novelties: a simple, lovely tune with no gimmick. It uses the traditional Argentine tango rhythm but without the melodramatic flash of authentic tangos. Anderson's own recording with a studio orchestra for Decca was a #1 hit in 1951. An instrumental version of "Blue Tango" recorded by Anderson with the flip side "Belle of the Ball" reached number one on the Billboard chart in 1952.

• Bhānaka Kula, an ensemble created by Phillip Roebuck featuring singers Danny Halper, Holly Troy, Kevin Dann, Nicole Tranchita, Ryan Tiano, Simone Stevens, Vicky Finney, and Zeke Healy.
  Performing: Interfaith Prayer Round
  A Polyrhythm Mantra Choir, exploring and celebrating the dazzling prosody (rhythmics & metrics) of ancient poetic texts, Bhānaka Kula is an American world-music choir-band of “scripture singers.” Using a unique “verse-stacking” technique, the layering of texts in Sanskrit and other languages creates an immersive and exciting scripture-as-performance experience.