Yuma concert will be a rite of passage for 4 young musicians
YUMA – The Yuma Orchestra Association’s May 14 spring concert is a bittersweet performance for four young musicians who will be graduating from high school this month and moving on to the next chapter in their lives.
But they will take with them many wonderful memories of their years learning to play their instruments, performing for others and the friends they’ve made.
They are examples of the success of the orchestra program’s mission to nurture and cultivate the arts in Yuma through classical string music education and performance.
Sharon Garbooshian, Francis “Kiko” Gonzales, Valeria Altamirano and Wesley Fisher have been members of String Ambassadors for several years. Kiko and Sharon also are members of the Yuma Civic Orchestra, where Sharon is second chair violinist. Sharon, Kiko and Valeria will graduate from Cibola High School on May 27 while Wesley will graduate from Freedom Christian Academy on May 20.
It is a rite of passage for the music program: Educate and nurture young players, then have them graduate and move on. The hope is that the next generation of young musicians will be ready to step up and fill their positions, said Janet Jones, conductor of the Yuma Civic Orchestra and String Ambassadors.
She added that she firmly believes that music has a lasting impact on those who have participated in a musical program when younger, whether they continue to play or not.
The four young musicians will be among musicians performing for the Yuma Orchestra Association’s concert to be held at 6:30 p.m., May 14, at the Historic Yuma Theater, 254 S. Main St. in downtown Yuma. Tickets are $15 each and may be purchased in advance at the Yuma Art Center, 254 S. Main St. (next to the theater), or call the center at (928) 3735202. Tickets also will be sold at the door the evening of the concert.
The concert is aptly titled the Orchestral Classics concert as it will feature music by such classical composers as Johann Bach, Claude DeBussy, Tchaikovsky, Ludwig Beethoven and George Handel and the more contemporary Andrew Lloyd Webber.
“It will be a diverse concert,” said conductor Janet Jones. “There will be some blockbusters and other pieces. Mostly we’re playing things we enjoy playing and we hope will appeal to the audience.”
They include such classics as “Queen of Sheba: Solomon” by Handel, likely familiar to fans of James Bond; Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony; and Hungarian Rhapsody composed by Franz Liszt.
The concert also will include Finlandia by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It had its origins in political protest, written for the Finnish Press Pension Celebration of 1899, a thinly veiled rally in support of freedom of the Finnish press, then largely controlled by tsarist Russia.
The concert will lead off with two selections played by participants in the Orchestra Workshop, featuring seven string students ranging from very young to high school who will perform “Over the Rainbow” and the theme from “Ice Castles.”
“They’ve been working hard … and we’re really proud to have the young players with us,” said Jones, explaining that the younger performers hadn’t been part of concert programs for the last couple of years because of COVID-19. “We are so pleased to have them back.”
Next, the String Ambassadors will take to the stage, leading off with a selection by Bach. Rounding out the concert, the Yuma Civic Orchestra will finish the evening with the Hungarian Rhapsody.
“Our musicians are looking forward to bringing Yumans an orchestral classics concert where our community can experience the power and imagery that the music brings,” stated the orchestra organization on its website. “This concert is dedicated specifically to those in our community and surrounding areas who love classical music and who support us all year round.”
The spring concert is made possible due in part to support from the Janice Fife Yuma Fund, the Arizona Community Foundation, the Sturgis Charitable Trust and the Arizona Commission of the Arts. The Cibola Interact Club will assist with the concert.
The Yuma Orchestra Association announced that performances for the 2022-23 season will include Classics by Moonlight in October, Spirit of Christmas in December, Romantic Classics in February and Orchestral Classics in May. In addition, Billy and the Hillbillies will return for a repeat performance of their special blend of “Classgrass” to the Yuma stage in concert in March with the String Ambassadors and Yuma Civic Orchestra.
For more information about Yuma Orchestra Association, visit Yumaorchestra.org or call (928) 487-1344.