The Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy (formerly the American West Symphony and Chorus) will open its season this week with a program of well-known works by Barber, Berlioz, Shostakovich, Villa Lobos and Holst.
"We're doing several short pieces, because our first two performances are youth concerts," said music director Joel Rosenberg. "We want to make our programs accessible to young people and help them develop an interest in classical music."
Every work on the program is a showpiece for the entire orchestra. The concert will open with Barber's overture to "The School for Scandal." "This is one of the composer's most popular works," Rosenberg said. "And it gave him a leg up in the limelight."
Barber had been successful as a composer from the start, but it wasn't until he wrote this overture that he found his place as one of the most significant American composers of the 20th century.
After the Barber, the orchestra will play "The Little Train on the Caipira" movement from Villa Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2." "This piece makes great use of a large array of percussion instruments, both conventional instruments found in the orchestra along with several South American and African drums," said Rosenberg.
He added that the piece depicts a train journey. "Villa Lobos makes the orchestra sound absolutely like a train starting up, getting faster and faster, and finally slowing down and stopping. And he does this in only seven minutes."
Two short pieces by Shostakovich will also be played. The Prelude in E flat minor and the Polka from his ballet "The Golden Age" show two totally different sides of the composer. The Prelude, originally written for piano, will be performed in Leopold Stokowski's orchestration. The somber character of the Prelude will be contrasted by the humorous, tongue in cheek and witty Polka. "The Polka is a great show-off piece for our first-chair players," Rosenberg said.
The final two works on the program are "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" from Holst's "The Planets" and Berlioz's "Roman Carnival Overture."
This will be the first season that the American West organization will be appearing under its new name of the Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City. According to Rosenberg, the reason for the name change was to emphasize the fact that the orchestra is based in Sandy. "We're supported by Sandy City, and we needed to feature the city's name more prominently," Rosenberg said.
He added that he was astonished when he discovered that only a small number of people who knew that Sandy had its own orchestra. "People didn't know about us. We need to reach out into the community to attract a larger audience."
Rosenberg also said that Sandy mayor Tom Dolan is a strong advocate of the orchestra. "The city has been great in its support."
If you go . . .
What: The Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City, Joel Rosenberg, conductor
Where: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 700 East at 8600 South, Sandy
When: Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $6 general, $4 senior citizens and students, $15 family pass
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com