TAMIU Orchestra Hosts Fall concert Monday, Nov. 22

The Texas A&M International University Orchestra presents its Fall Concert on Monday, November 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Center for Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall. This concert is free and open to the public.

Brendan Townsend, director of the TAMIU Orchestra and assistant professor, explained the Orchestra consists entirely of TAMIU music students and is in its second year.

He explained the program includes three works from the Baroque and early Classical period.

"This is the most suitable repertoire for this fledgling ensemble," explained Townsend.

The program begins with the "Entrance of the Queen of Sheeba" from the opera "Solomon" by G.F. Handel.

"The orchestra will set the celebratory mood enshrined in this upbeat work. This is followed by the Second Orchestral Suite of J.S. Bach. This Suite is in the somber key of B minor, which was a favorite sonority for Bach for portraying drama and a serious mood. Opening with a wonderful overture, the rhythmic intensity of which many compare to the haunting drum-beat of a funeral march, the work concludes with the most famously recognizable movement, the Badinerie, which some will recognize as a cell phone ring tone!" said Townsend.

He said the final work on the program is the Symphony No. 27 in A Major of W.A. Mozart. Townsend explained the piece was composed very quickly during one of Mozart's highly prolific periods when his life was filled with joy and riches, and the overall mood of the work is one of upbeat optimism and joie de vivre.

Townsend said those who wanted more classical music were encouraged to attend the Sunday, December 12 performance of Handel's "Messiah." For this performance, the TAMIU Orchestra will join forces with members of the Laredo Community College Symphony and the Laredo Philharmonic Chorale under the direction of Dr. Joseph Crabtree. As part of the historic collaborative agreement between TAMIU and LCC to co-sponsor the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, Townsend is the director of the TAMIU Orchestra and the LCC Symphony, as well as the LPO.

For more information on the TAMIU Orchestra and its concerts, please call Brendan Townsend at 326-3039, or e-mail btownsend@tamiu.edu.