Nashua Chamber Orchestra Nov. 22nd, 23rd, 2025 Concerts

The Nashua Chamber Orchestra, directed by David Feltner, opens its ’25-’26 season with Magnificent Mozart, featuring concertmaster Beth Welty, violin, and guest soloist, Dani Rimoni, viola, in the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major. The program also includes Ravel’s Mother Goose (Ma Mère l’Oye) Suite, and Renaissance Revelry, a new workby composer Robert Edward Smith.

Performances:
SATURDAY, NOV. 22nd, 7:30; Nashua Community College, 505 Amherst St., Judd Gregg Hall
SUNDAY, NOV. 23rd, 3:00 PM; Milford Town Hall on the Milford Oval

Tickets can be purchased at the door, or on-line at the web site: www.nco-music.org Prices are $20, adults; $15, seniors and college students; students under 18, free.

Mozart (1756-1791) wrote only one Sinfonia Concertante. The Sinfonia Concertante in Eb
Major features two soloists, violin and viola, and an orchestra of only two oboes, two horns, and strings. It is in the traditional three movements: Allegro, Andante, Presto. The spirited interplay of violin and viola in the outer movements are contrasted by the soulful interlude of the Andante. The exquisite melodies intertwined with lush harmonies exemplify Mozart’s genius at its best.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) wrote his tone poem, Mother Goose Suite: Five Pieces for Children, for piano four hands, but his orchestrated version of 1911 is the most popular. A master of creating colorful orchestral sonorities, Ravel’s rich palette is on full display, painting each of the five fairytales.

Over the past summer, composer Robert Edward Smith (1946) turned his compositional talents to the medieval dances that have long been for him a source of delight. So, he undertook the project of selecting dances from Michael Praetorius’ Terpsichore (1610), along with music from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, to compile a sampling for contemporary audiences. He titled his collection, Renaissance Revelry, in the hope that audiences “will find as much delight in this ‘ear candy’ as I have."