Community Orchestra to give debut performance at Paramount Theater

MIDDLETOWN — Washingtonville violinist Rachel Conklin, winner of SUNY Orange’s Fifth Annual Concerto/Aria Competition, will perform with the college’s Community Orchestra during the its debut concert at the Paramount Theater, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 6. Music by Brahms, Bruch, Fauré and Prokofiev will be featured, as will the performance of Conklin, a home-schooled high school freshman who currently studies music with Elle Kang in New York City. Conklin’s previous teachers include Karner Warner, Cheryl Blumental and Andrew Zaplatynski. She has attended Eastern U.S. Music Camp, Hartwick College Summer Music Festival and the Credo Chamber Music program at Oberlin Conservatory. Conklin has also been concert mistress for OCMEA All County Music Festivals and for the Allegro Orchestra Baroque Ensemble. The 56-piece ensemble includes SUNY Orange students and community musicians from throughout Orange County, under the direction of Dr. Hilarie Clark Moore. The concert will open with a pair of contrasting late 19th-century pieces, Brahms’ “Tragic Overture,” Op. 81 and Fauré’s “Pavanne,” Op. 50. Conklin will follow with another 19th century piece, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The concert closes with Prokofiev’s “Classical Symphony,” Op. 25, a piece that blends his innovative 20th century writing with the conformity to the ‘classical’ forms established by Joseph Haydn. Admission to the concert will be $5. The Paramount Theater is universally accessible. For additional information, call the Arts and Communication Department at 341-4787.