Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra presents Beethoven April 14 and 15

Newburgh — Maestro Woomyung Choe and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra will present an all-Beethoven concert, with 200 choristers, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, in the Newburgh Free Academy High School Auditorium, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, in the Lycian Centre, Sugar Loaf. The dramatic and melodic Leonore Overture No. 3, Opus 72b and the magnificent, gigantic masterpiece, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125, will be performed. There were a plethora of Leonore overtures, because Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed a new one each time he revised his only opera, Fidelio (originally titled Leonore after the opera’s heroine). One of the greatest achievements in music, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125, is Beethoven’s last complete symphony and has played a prominent cultural role in modern society as a call for universal brotherhood. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and freedom swept across Europe, there was no question what music should be played. Finished in 1824 when Beethoven was totally deaf, it incorporates a poem by Friedrich Schiller, “Ode to Joy,” with text sung by four soloists and a chorus, and stands as the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level with instruments in a symphony. The performance will feature the combined choruses of the Newburgh Symphonic Chorale, the Cadet Glee Club of the United States Military Academy, the Middletown City Chorale and the Warwick Valley Chorale. Soprano Julia Rolwing is the 2007 winner of the coveted Liederkranz Foundation Wagner Division Competition and the 2006 recipient of the Anna Sosenko Artist Trust Award. Diane Fox, mezzo soprano, made her international debut at the Bolshoi Opera opposite the late Metropolitan Opera legend, Jerome Hines, in his opera, “I Am The Way.” Tenor Anthony Daino appears both in leading roles and in concert, with opera companies in the United States and Europe. An active musician and educator, bass-baritone Erich Tusch returns to the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he was previously a grand bass soloist for Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass” with the Orchestra and the Newburgh Symphonic Chorale. Claudia Cummings, soprano, conductor and producer, is also Choral Master of the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra’s affiliate, the Newburgh Symphonic Chorale. The Shacklett Preview, at 7 p.m. on April 14, is a pre-concert introduction to the evening’s music by Gordon Shacklett. Ticket prices are $25 for reserved seating, $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors, $10 for students and children under 7 are admitted free of charge. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved in advance by calling 845-625-0625 or www.newburghsymphony.org.