- By Leah Kaller
- Entertainment
Print 
Works to be performed include Morton Gould's American Salute; Dvorak's American Suite; Ashokan Farewell by Jay Unger; Fast Freight Dream composed for the ICO by Ithaca College faculty member Sally Lamb McCune; A Symphonic Portrait, a medley of Irving Berlin songs; and excerpts from Aaron Copland's Rodeo Suite.
The concert is part of the Tompkins County Arts Partnership’s "Spring Writes" 2012 Finger Lakes Literary Festival. The orchestra is also collaborating with the History Center in Tompkins County and the Boynton Middle School Chamber Orchestra.
Dear Friend Amelia: The Civil War Letters of Private John Tidd is a collection of 48 letters dating from July 1862 through October 1865. They tell the story of a young man's experiences as a Civil War soldier and document his affections for his friend Amelia Haskell, who resided in Speedsville, N.Y. In 1972 Herman and Maggie Moesch discovered the letters along with other artifacts in a hidden room in their Slaterville Springs house and gave them to Mary Jordan. Ms. Jordan and her sister, Joyce Hatch, spent the next 40 years researching the letters and solving some of the riddles found within them.
The book was published by Six Mile Creek Press in 2011 and can be purchased at the History Center in Tompkins County. While WSKG personality Ken Campbell reads excerpts from the letters, the Boynton Middle School Chamber Orchestra will join the ICO to play Ashokan Farewell, a Jay Unger song featured in Ken Burn's Civil War series. The History Center will have a display at the reception after the concert and the authors will be present to sign books.
Sally Lamb McCune has always been fascinated with trains, the sounds they make and the excitement they create. Her piece, Fast Freight Dream, was commissioned by the Ithaca Community Orchestra and was inspired by the trains and the many texts and folksongs associated with them The ICO will premiere this work and Ms. McCune will give a brief presentation during the concert.
Sally Lamb McCune is originally from Detroit and has studied at the University of Toronto and the California Institute of the Arts. She earned her MFA and DMA at Cornell University and has written commissions for the Kitchen Theatre Company, Cayuga Cahmber Orchestra, Ariadne String Quartet and the New York State Music Teacher's Association. She is currently on the faculty at Ithaca College.
Ken Campbell is the Director of Radio Programming and Operations for WSKG Public Broadcasting. WSKG Radio has served Ithaca since 1983 with a blend of news and classical music, along with other cultural programming.
v8i16