The Albany Symphony Orchestra concludes its 2022 – 2023 season of musical travel adventures on Saturday, April 15  with “A Scottish Outing” conducted by  Music Director, Claire Fox Hillard, and featuring guest violinist Ariel Horowitz (bio and picture attached).  The performance begins at 6:30 pm in the Albany Municipal Auditorium and will also feature a special appearance of bagpipes performed by Dan Gillan.  Music Director Hillard says, “our season finale transports us to the wonderful world of Scottish folk music and bagpipes through the music of Scottish composers Peter Maxwell Davies and Thea Musgrave as well as the famous ‘Scottish Fantasy’ for violin and orchestra by Max Bruch.”

The first half of the the concert will feature the orchestra in three colorful programatic pieces related to Scotland.   The performance will open with Hector Berlioz “Rob Roy Overture” based on  the  adventures  of  Rob Roy MacGregor, head of a proud 18^th-century Highlands clan, written by Sir Walter Scott.  Thea Musgrave’s “Loch Ness – A Postcard from Scotland” is a musical tale portraying the infamous Loch Ness monster (represented musically by the tuba) emerging from the sea to bask in the sun and play only to return to the ocean’s depths as the sun sets.  In Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Orkney Wedding with Sunrise,” a wedding party is heard becoming more and more excited as the guest enjoy their dancing, celebrating, and Scotch whisky.  As the guests begin to tire from all the excessive revelry, they eventually begin to make their way home in the wee morning hours as the sun begins to rise.   A bagpiper ushers in the new day with the distant sounds of a folk melody, which gradually reaches full volume with the full orchestra as the new day is born.

Following intermission, guest soloist, Ariel Horowitz, will perform Max Bruch’s well-known “Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra.  The composition consists of a slow introduction followed by four individual movements each based on a Scottish folk tune.  It is a brilliant showcase for the solo violin with a rich orchestral accompaniment that features a very prominent harp part. 

Presenting Sponsors for the orchestra’s 59^th season are:  WALB-TV; Phoebe Putney Health System; Watson Spence Attorneys LLP; and In the Light Creative Studio. 

Tickets for the concert are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors (60+) $15 for students/military and children 6 – under are free. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Albany Symphony offices at (229) 430-8933 or visit    www.albanysymphony.org.