The lines between town and gown were blurred at the Met this past weekend as the Morgantown Community Orchestra (MCO) performed their season finale concert, titled “From Dusk Til Dawn.” The show featured pieces of orchestral music ranging from the tradition, the cinematic, and the avant-garde.
The MCO is a collaboration between local musicians and the WVU School of Music’s Community Music Program. The program pairs local musicians with talent at the School of Music to create opportunities for public musical performances. Any musician of intermediate to advanced talent is welcome to join the symphony, regardless of age.
Last Tuesday’s free concert at the Met featured pieces that touched on the themes of night, space, stars, and morning. Most of the pieces were easily accessible and recognizable, including Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Debussey’s Claire de Lune, Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets, and Morgentstemning from Edvard Greig’s musical compositions for the play Peer Gynt.
The MCO also performed a piece commissioned for the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s formulation of the Theory of General Relativity, called A Shout Across Time. The multimedia piece featured the MCO, a guest vocalist, a video projection, added sound effects, and audience participation. As each member of the audience arrived for the show, they were given a children’s toy called a “whirlie.” The toy is a three-foot, hollow, neon plastic noodle, and when the whirlie is spun, it makes an other-worldy whistling sound. At conductor Juliana Cantarelli Vita’s signal, members of the audience spun whirlies in the air, which added a unique sound to the evening that no classical instrument could make.
The evening concluded with three pieces from John William’s Star Wars soundtrack- Princess Leia’s theme, the Imperial March, and the Main Theme.
The MCO works to provide year-round opportunities for musicians to be involved. For more information, musicians and music lovers can visit the MCO website.
