Genesee Symphony Orchestra Music Director and South Seneca graduate S. Shade Zajac will again bring the Seneca Summer Music Festival Orchestra to-gether at the South Seneca High School Auditorium in Ovid, this time at 7:30PM on Saturday, June 16th with a concert entitled “100 Years of Lenny: A celebration of the life and works of Leonard Bernstein” Featured soloist for this concert is South Seneca Central School Choral Director, Soprano Kyla Perry who will be singing in the last movement of Mahler’s 4th Symphony. As previous concerts, this concert is free, but donations will be accepted for the South Seneca Music Boosters. Refreshments will follow the performance. Partial support is being provided by the Lake Country Hometown Music Series of Christ Episcopal Church in Willard which is made possible by a grant from the Delavan Foundation. Other pieces to be performed include Overture to Candide and Night on Bald Mountain.
“This concert is a celebration of Leonard Bernstein as this is his centenary year.” stated Zajac. “We are doing Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky and Mahler’s Symphony 4 with Kyla singing in the last movement. Bernstein really brought Mahler to this country and taught it to us so to speak. A recording of Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition with the NY Philharmonic was the first recording I ever owned that Bernstein was conducting. My grandfather bought it for me when I was still in elementary school, I think on the way back from one of my cello lessons, so all of the pieces we are performing have a Bernstein connection for me. I am especially excited for people to have a chance to hear Kyla sing. I hope people will come to the school after spending the day at the Strawberry Festival and experience 100 years of Lenny.”
Perry is a classically trained soprano who grew up in Williamson, NY. She earned a Bachelor’s degree, Summa Cum Laude, from Houghton College and a Master’s degree at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA. She has toured the Mid-Atlantic States, Spain, France, and Italy with the Houghton College Choir in two separate tours. She sang a season as a member of the Rochester Oratorio Soci-ety, under the direction of conductor Eric Townell. In July 2013, Kyla performed the role of “Marian the Librarian” in the Between the Lakes Community Service Players’ production of The Music Man, receiving an award from the Theatre Asso-ciation of New York State for “Excellence in Vocal Performance” for her portrayal. She has studied voice with Amanda Cox, Kathleen Thomas, Dr. Philip Sargent, and Derrick Smith. Kyla started teaching for the South Seneca Central School District in September 2011 and is currently the 6-12 Choral Director.
The Seneca Summer Festival Orchestra is made up of a number of Finger Lakes and Rochester area musicians and has been brought together by Zajac for previ-ous classical concerts in his hometown. Kiran Rajamani is the Concert Master. Zajac is a 2011 graduate of South Seneca Central School and a 2015 graduate of Nazareth College with a degree in Music Performance, Cello, with Conducting and Composition. He is an accomplished cellist, prolific composer, and the founding member of the Asteria Quartet. In the spring of 2016 he was appointed Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Genesee Symphony Orchestra in Batavia, the youngest conductor in the group’s history. He is also Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra as well as the founder and conductor of the Seneca Summer Festival Orchestra.
For further information contact Ave Bauder at 607-896-9819 or [email protected].
