The Concerts

The Inaugural Concert of the Orchestra of St. John’s was held on November 9, 2008, featuring a tribute to the great British composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, with the gently songful Prelude to “Rhosymedre” performed by the Handbell Choir of St. John’s, the bountifully, melodious, and rhapsodic “The Lark Ascending” for solo violin and orchestra, and the passionate and spiritual “Fantasy on a Theme of Thomas Tallis”. In addition, in honor of All Saints Day, the full orchestra and the combined choirs of St. John’s and The Episcopal Cathedral performed Morten Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna.” The concert was critically acclaimed, and over 200 people attended. Listen to an excerpt:

The second concert was held on March 15 2009 and featured some of the most famous music written for a string orchestra. The concert began with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, which is the only concerto written for nine string parts. The concert continued with Mozart’s most recognizable piece of music, the serenade “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”. Also on the program was the breathtakingly beautiful Adagio for Strings written by Samuel Barber, one of his most famous works.

The concert concluded with a masterpiece by Tchaikovsky, Serenade in C for Strings, which covers the full emotional range from the heroic and elegiac, to the playful and passionate.

This concert honored the music teachers of Howard County and involved the participation of award winning students playing in a side-by-side performance of the Tchaikovsky. A declaration of March 15 as "Orchestra of St. John's Day," was presented by a representative of the Howard County Executive, the Honorable Ken Ulman.

The final concert was performed during the two Sunday church services at St. John’s, first at 9:00 AM and then at 11:15 AM on May 17, 2009. It featured the music of Bach with the combined choir, strings, and brass performing the most famous of his early cantatas, “Christ Lag in Todes Banden.” In addition, the concert included music from the Orchestral Suite No. 3, with the sublime Air on the G String.

The Orchestra of St. Johns opened its second season with "Viva Italia!" held Sunday, November 8, 2009. Featured on the program were Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso # 1, as part of the worldwide celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the composer's death, and the ever popular "Four Seasons" by Vivaldi, featuring members of the orchestra as soloists, and Mendelssohn's sunny "Italian" Symphony. You can sample from each movement of our performance of this symphony below:

First Movement:

 

Second Movement:

 

Third Movement:

Fourth Movement: