News

The Magnificent Baroque Features Trumpets and other Soloists

POTSDAM - Several members of the Orchestra of Northern New York will be featured as soloists when the North Country's only professional symphony orchestra performs its winter Baroque concert on February 9 and 10 in Watertown and Potsdam respectively.

The Magnificent Baroque will be performed at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, February 9 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown, and at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, February 10 at St. Mary's Church in Potsdam.

Crane faculty members and trumpeters Dr. John Ellis and Dr. James Madeja will be joined by Crane student apprentice Christopher Keach as they solo with ONNY's Baroque Orchestra.  Joining them will is another Crane faculty member, Dr. Anna Hendrickson (oboe), and her Crane student apprentice, Meagan Flynn. String soloists include concertmaster John Lindsey and Elaine Dewars of Saranac Lake.

The program opens with Bach's Sinfonia in D Major from the Easter Oratorio and his Air from Suite/Overture No. 3 in D Major followed by Handel's March and Battle Scene from Rinaldo, and Purcell's Trumpet Tune from Scene 5, King Arthur.  The Concerto Gross in B Minor, Op. 6 No. 12 by Handel and Prelude to Te Deum in D Major by Charpentier are followed by Purcell's Overture from the Ode, Who Can From Joy Refrain and Chacony in G Minor. Telemann's Concerto in D Major for three trumpets, two oboes, timpani and strings concludes the concert.

The concert is sponsored, in part, by the Northern New York Community Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature.

Tickets are available in advance by calling the CPS box office at 315-267-2277 or visiting onny.org. They are also available at the door. Adults are $25, seniors and military personnel are $20, college students with ID are $10 and children, 17 and younger, are free.

Immediately following the concert in Potsdam on Sunday, ONNY will host An Italian Affair, a delicious buffet of Italian foods and cash bar at Sergi's Restaurant, 10 Market Street, Potsdam. The public is invited. Cost for the dinner only is $25/person and reservations are required. They may be made by calling the ONNY office at 315-267-3251 or visiting onny.org.

Photo Credit: Javi Sánchez de la viña

Students Sought for Orchestra Competition

POTSDAM -  The Orchestra of Northern New York seeks high school students to compete in its 13th Annual James and Katherine Andrews Young Artist Competition for High School Instrumentalists to be held 10:00 a.m., Saturday, February 16 at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music.  The application deadline is February 1st.

The event is open to the public that is sure to be amazed as high school students from northern and central New York compete by performing required works from memory. 

Established in 2007 to help fulfill ONNY's youth mission of engaging young people in the enjoyment and appreciation of music. the competition's mission is to inspire young musicians to reach their highest level of artistry. 

The competition is one of the few of its kind in the U.S. that offers both a cash prize and the opportunity to solo with a professional symphony orchestra. 

The first place winner takes home $500 and this year will perform the winning piece during the Harry Potter Spectacular concerts on March 23rd and 24th in Watertown and Potsdam.  Second and third place prizes of $300 and $150 respectively are also awarded.

This year, we are proud to announce the $500 First Prize is donated anonymously by a friend and classmate of the late Rev. Peter J. Sullivan in his memory.

For an application form, list of required repertoire and more information about this year's competition, visit onny.org or call 315-267-3251.

Clerical Assistant Sought for Orchestra

POTSDAM - The North Country's professional symphony orchestra has an opening for a part-time clerical assistant to the executive director. The application deadline is February 1.

Duties of the position include, but are not limited to, such clerical tasks as updating the mailing list in Excel, doing mailings of promotional pieces to various market segments, and assisting with fundraising projects.

Keyboarding skills are essential and knowledge of WORD and Excel is required. Successful candidate will have good interpersonal and organizational skills.

The position is budgeted for eight hours per week at minimum wage of $11.10/hour. Specific hours to be determined in conjunction with the executive director.

To apply, send cover letter, resume and three professional references to: Search Committee, ONNY, PO Box 488, Potsdam, NY 13676 no later than Friday, February 1, 2019.

Welcome to the 31st Season of the Orchestra of Northern New York

Dear Patrons,

Welcome to the 31st season of the Orchestra of Northern New York. With a wide array of brilliant orchestral masterpieces from our classics to our pops series, we are proud to offer a season of Music that Inspires and Excites! We know you will be inspired by these magnificent programs that are performed by virtuosic soloists and exceptional professional musicians from Northern New York and beyond. Thank you for your generous and continued support over these many years. We look forward to seeing you at our future concerts.

Kenneth Andrews, Music Director

Free Tickets And Pre-Concert Lecture At ONNY Concert

POTSDAM - Maestro Kenneth Andrews, music director, conductor and founder of the Orchestra of Northern New York, will address the audience at a pre-concert lecture at 3:45 pm, Saturday, April 28 in Hosmer Hall at the Crane School of Music, and 2:15 pm, Sunday, April 29 in the First Presbyterian Church in Watertown. The concert, Stravinsky & Mendelssohn, begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:00 p.m. Sunday.

Both performances are sponsored, in part, by the Northern New York Community Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

The concert features Stravinsky's masterful Pulcinella  Suite that will showcase the virtuosity of ONNY's principal chairs. On the second half of the program, Mendelssohn's brilliant and exhilarating Symphony No. 4 (Italian) will take the listener back to his magical trip to Italy in 1830.

Silas Smith, 18, of Malone will perform Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for harp. He is the winner of the James and Katherine Andrews Young Artist Competition held this past February. He has been studying harp for ten years through the National String Project at the Crane School of Music, under the direction of Dr. Jessica Suchy-Pilalis.

Tickets for the Watertown concert are available in Watertown at the North Country Arts Council, 52 Public Square, and Pine Cleaners, 237 Franklin Street.

Concertgoers are encouraged to come to Hosmer Hall early on Saturday, April 28th to take advantage of SeaComm Federal Credit Union's 'pay it forward' campaign. The financial institution is providing free tickets to the first 250 people in attendance.

For more information about ONNY, call 315-267-3251 or visit www.onny.org

Save the Date: Inaugural ONNY Fall Golf Classic

Dear Friend:

It's my pleasure to introduce the Inaugural Fall Golf Classic, sponsored by the Orchestra of Northern New York. It will be held Saturday, September 15, 2018 from 12:30–7:30 p.m. at the Potsdam Town & Country Club. The $100 entry fee includes 18 holes of golf, golf cart, buffet dinner, contests and prizes. There will also be a silent auction and raffles.

The Orchestra of Northern New York, now celebrating its 30th season, is the North Country's only year- round, professional symphony orchestra. It enriches the quality of life in northern New York through live performances of orchestral music by outstanding musicians and engages area youth in the appreciation of music. Each year, nearly 8,000 people enjoy LIVE music at ONNY concerts.

Ticket sales account for only 36% of the $160,500 revenue needed for a season, making donations to the Orchestra essential for its financial well being. Donors make it possible to keep ticket prices reasonable and to offer discounts to seniors, military personnel and college students. Children, 17 and younger, receive free admission to all concerts.

I hope you will participate as a valued sponsor of this golf tournament. Sponsors will receive significant publicity, concert tickets, and program advertising... (see attached form)

  • Before the tournament, recognition on posters displayed at area golf courses, in news releases, radio and TV spots, on ONNY's website, and in social media on facebook and Twitter
  • During the event with logos on signs at specific holes, and at the dinner and awards ceremony immediately following the tournament
  • After the tournament when sponsors will be acknowledged publicly throughout the 2018-2019 orchestra season with tickets and advertisements in ONNY concert programs

A member of our Golf Tournament Committee will call on you in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to contact ONNY executive director, Kathy Del Guidice, at 315-267- 3251 or onnybusiness@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to a great day of golf to fundraise for a worthy cause. I hope you will support us.

Sincerely,

Guy C. "Chip" Lamson
Tournament Chair

Local Students Win ONNY Competition

POTSDAM - Silas Smith of Malone won first place in the Orchestra of Northern New York’s Young Artist Competition on Saturday, February 10 at the Crane School of Music.  A harpist, Smith performed Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro with pianist Nancy  Hull of Potsdam.  As the first place winner, Smith will receive $500 and the opportunity  to perform this work with the Orchestra on its April 28th concert in Hosmer Hall at the Crane School of Music.

Katherine Betrus of Potsdam won second place.  A violinist, Betrus performed Bach's Concerto No. 2 in E Major with pianist Lori Gruneisen. She will receive a $300 prize.

Smith, age 18, has been studying harp for ten years through the National String Project (NSP) at the Crane School, under the direction of Jessica Suchy-Pilalis.  He has attended Crane Youth Music for the past five summers where he studied privately with Dr. Suchy-Pilalis and performed with the CYM Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra and Harp Ensemble.  He has also been featured in the CYM Honors Recital on several occasions.  Silas has been the recipient of the Scott LaVine CYM Scholarship and the American Harp Society Kids for Camp Scholarship.  He has also participated in numerous NYSSMA solo festivals ad was principal harpist in the New York State All-State program at the Eastman School of Music last year. 

Smith’s non-musical activities include reading and competitive chess.  He also serves as an Explorer in Charge at Explorer in Post 1789 of the United States Border Patrol Explorers in Burke, NY.  He is a proud resident of the North Country and is very grateful for the opportunities, musical and otherwise, afforded to him here.

Betrus, age 15, is a sophomore and a high honor roll student at Potsdam High School. A student of Nancy Kear for the past eight years, Katherine is a member of the high school orchestra and was concertmaster in the Junior High All County Orchestra in seventh and eighth grades. In her freshman and sophomore years, she was selected to perform in the area all-state orchestra. She has also participated in NYSSMA for the past six years.

Katherine has been a member of model U.N. and environmental club for two years. She also enjoys varsity volleyball, varsity indoor track and varsity outdoor track. She is the daughter of Anthony and Kristen Betrus.

ONNY's Young Artist Competition was established in 2007 for talented high school students in Northern New York. Its mission is to inspire young musicians to reach their highest level of artistry.

For more information about next year's competition to be held in February 2019, contact ONNY at 315-267-3251.

Orchestra Offers Music Lessons

POTSDAM - Two young women from Indian River Central School were the lucky winners in a raffle to receive music lessons from members of the Orchestra of Northern New York, the North Country's only year-round professsional symphony orchestra.

Kierstyn Waugh, a cellist, and Jade Tichko, a percussionist, are in the 8th Grade at Indian River Central School.  Both have been studying their instruments for three years. They entered the raffle last fall when a group of 60 students from Indian River School attended an ONNY concert in Watertown.

Kierstyn, the daughter of Carriann Church, is in the choir, a member of the school orchestra, and active in sports, including softball and soccer. She says she likes the cello because of "the deep sounds that are really rich, and not high like the violin." She received her lesson from Dr. Robert Docker, ONNY cellist and member of the Crane School of Music faculty.

Jade, the daughter of Mike and Tammy Tichko, is active in school clubs, band, chorus and sports, including lacrosse, soccer and basketball. She enjoys percussion because of "how diverse it is, playing different instruments." She received her lesson from Aaron Andia, a percussionist with the Crane School of Music and one of the few Crane students selected to play with ONNY.

Part of ONNY's mission is to engage young people in the appreciation of music. Its youth programs include hiring student apprentices from the Crane School of Music to play with the professional orchestra; hosting an instrumental music competition for high school students each year; and offering free admission to students, 17 and younger, to all ONNY concerts.

For more information about ONNY, visit www.onny.org or call 315-267-3251.

 

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ONNY to Perform All-Bach Concert

POTSDAM - Some of the most beautiful and poignant music from the pen of Johann Sebastian Bach will be performed when the Orchestra of Northern New York, the North Country's only year-round professional symphony orchestra, presents its winter Baroque concert on January 27 and 28.

Performances will be 7:30 p.m., Saturday, January 27 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown, and 3:00 p.m., Sunday, January 28 at St. Mary's Church in Potsdam.

The program opens with the exhilarating Sinfonia from one of Bach's masterpieces, Cantata 42. It continues with two legendary Brandenburg concerti - Concerto No. 3 and Concerto No. 4, and concludes with the sublime grandeur of his Orchestral Suite No. 1.

Featured soloists include Maestro Kenneth Andrews will join ONNY's principal flutist Jill Rubio, and Concertmaster John Lindsey on violin for the Brandenburg Concert No. 4. Andrews, who founded the Orchestra 30 years ago, teaches flute at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. Jill Rubio, a member of the Crane woodwind faculty and adjunct flute teacher at Crane, teaches band at Potsdam Central School.  John Lindsey is also a founding member of ONNY, and retired Crane Professor Emeritus.

Tickets are available online at www.onny.org, by calling 315-267-2277, or at the door.

The Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization. It is funded, in part,  by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.  (required statement of credit)