BARRE – The Vermont Philharmonic and Green Mountain Youth Symphony will present “Awakenings: Music of Young Composers,” in its annual Family Concert on Sunday, March 19, at 2 p.m., at the Barre Opera House. Titled “Awakenings,” the program will feature music by well-known composers when they were still very young, and will also include new music by two Vermont student composers.
Handel was 19 when he wrote his first opera, “Almira,” as was Sousa when he wrote his first march, “Review.” Mendelssohn was 15 when he published his first symphony, and Mozart published his eighth symphony when he was only 12. George Bizet was the old man of the group, aged 25 when he wrote his opera “The Pearl Fishers.”
The program will also put the spotlight on two teen-aged Vermont composers in the Music-Comp program at Montpelier High School. The Vermont Philharmonic will perform Callum Robechek’s “And in a Moment” and Chase Ehrlich’s “Spirit of the Sky”. Robechek’s “Morning Fog” was on the program at the 2020 Family Concert, and Ehrlich won the Masterclef Competition in November 2021.
In addition, the program will feature young performers, as the Green Mountain Youth Symphony will come on stage to perform music of Gustav Holst. Under the artistic direction of Robert Blais, the GMYS is a community of young musicians. Founded in 2001, it now serves over 100 student musicians from central and northern Vermont and New Hampshire.
Tickets are available at the door or online at vermontphilharmonic.com.
