Congratulations to Fairfield County's own American Chamber Orchestra as they celebrate their fifth year as a performing organization. You may recognize these musicians as they may be your neighbors, acquaintances, community leaders or co-workers. The orchestra is marking this event with a concert on Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Fairfield. The featured works include the Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla by Mikhail Glinka, Violin Concerto in D major by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky with soloist Maria Conti and Symphony #2 in D major by Johannes Brahms.
Music Director Christopher James Hisey is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied conducting with Donald Hunsberger and David Efron, and Bowling Green University, where he completed his Masters Degree in Conducting under Emily Freeman Brown. His international appearances with various orchestras include the Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Klassika Symphony, formerly the Leningrad State Philharmonic. He is Music Director of the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra and the 2008 Troupers Light Opera production of Yeoman of the Guard and a string teacher at Greens Farms Academy and the Westport School of Music.
Maria Conti received her Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and is an established freelance violinist in the Tri-state area. She serves as assistant concertmaster of the Norwalk Symphony, acting assistant concertmaster of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, assistant principal second of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, assistant concertmaster of Camerata New York and is a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic first violin section. She is an active chamber music player with the Axis Quintet (string quartet and guitar) and the chamber group Musicora, which blends the sounds of violin, cello, classical guitar, piano, and voice.
The Westport Public Library invites you to check out these musical works either before or after the concert. For further reading about the composers, you may try Jan Swafford's Johannes Brahms: A Biography and David Brown's Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music.