Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The Ithaca Community Orchestra (ICO) will bring 2008 to a close with the grace, joy, and passion that can only come from a group of musicians performing for the pure beauty of the piece. On Sunday, December 7th, don't miss the ICO's performance of Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave Overture "Die Hebriden," Op.26, Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto in F Major, Op. 102, and Schubert's Sixth Symphony in C Major, D 589.

The featured soloist for this year's concert is Cornell professor and pianist Graeme Bailey, a performer with an overwhelming array of classical music experience. Cayenna Ponchione will lead the ICO as music director, with help from assistant conductor Bryan Lilley. The performance, funded in part by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, will take place at the First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca on Dec. 7th at 4pm.

Cornell professor Graeme Bailey was born and raised in England, where he studied, taught and researched in many different areas of the Mathematics field before moving to the Ithaca area in 1986. His musical talent earned him a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, during which he studied piano/harpsichord and cello under Antonio Butler and Millicent Silver. But despite becoming a concert artist touring Britain and Scandinavia, his interest in science took the upper hand.

As he explained to Cornell Chronicle reporter Bill Steele, ‘I felt if I went in a science direction I could actually make a difference. I was rather naïve at 19, 20 years old, thinking that musicians were merely entertaining.' This career choice lead professor Bailey into what some would call a double life, by balancing being a mathematician with lunchtime concerts in London and performances on BBC Television.

Today Dr. Bailey works at Cornell as a Professor of Computer Science, while also serving as a member of the Faculty Committee on Music. In addition, since moving to the Ithaca area, he has earned a local reputation for accompanying students and faculty in various performances at both Ithaca College and Cornell.

Marc Bryan Lilley, assistant conductor for the ICO, is a new addition to the group for the 2008 winter season. Just this past spring Lilley received his Masters in Music in conducting from Ithaca College. While pursuing his masters degree, Lilley served as the graduate assistant for the Opera program, accompanying all production rehearsals and workshops, as well as working as a coach and chorus master. Lilley currently works as a staff accompanist for Ithaca College, while also serving as the music director at the First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses in Trumansburg, New York.

Cayenna Ponchione, the Ithaca Community Orchestra's musical leader, received two Masters degrees from Ithaca College's School of Music in 2004 for instrumental conducting and percussion performance. Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Ponchione has made her home in Alpine, New York, where she avidly pursues her music career as a conductor, composer, and percussionist. She currently serves as music director for the Binghamton Community Orchestra, the Ithaca Community Orchestra, and the GrassRoots Festival Chamber Orchestra.

 

Her percussion compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Brazil and Costa Rica. Her percussion ensemble work "The Creation" won the 2003 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest. Ponchione also serves as secretary for the Zeltsman Marimba Festival and as director of the Finger Lakes Community Orchestra Festival.

The Ithaca Community Orchestra is a non-professional group which supports community musical education through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral repertoire. Now in its eighth season, the ICO is committed to presenting concerts for the general public, which include appearances at community events and festivals as well as performances at local residential institutions.