Professional Group to Perform the Classical Music of the Americas in Three Virginia Communities
Online PR News – 08-February-2023 – Blacksburg, VA – The Cayambis Sinfonietta, a national leader in the performance of the classical music of the Americas, is pleased to announce its first regional tour during April, 2023. The ensemble will present a formal concert in three communities: at 7:30 pm on April 12 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Blacksburg, Virginia; at 7:00 pm on April 13 at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia; and at 7:30 pm on April 14 at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. Generously supported by the A. & M. Blank Foundation and the Community Foundation of the New River Valley, each event is free and open to the public.
The program, unlike that of any other US-based performance ensemble, is an exciting journey through some of the best instrumental music that the American hemisphere has to offer. Across the nine pieces that make up the tour program, the Sinfonietta will demonstrate its remarkable versatility by performing a representative cross section of our hemisphere’s most important musical styles over the past one hundred thirty-five years, including Italianate opera overtures from Brazil, Guatemalan indigenism and Mexican folklorism. The program will also feature two hidden gems from the U.S. orchestral repertory by Edward MacDowell and Victor Herbert. The thirteen-member ensemble is made up of some of the area’s finest musicians, including flutist Elizabeth Lantz, percussionist Al Wojtera and violinist Charley Shafer. The ensemble is conducted by music director Dr. John L. Walker.
Speaking about their upcoming tour, Walker said, “After our very successful inaugural concert, organizing this tour seemed like a natural next step for an ensemble interested in promoting the classical music of the Americas.”
About the Cayambis Sinfonietta: Founded in 2022, the Cayambis Sinfonietta is a thirteen-member chamber orchestra based in Blacksburg, Virginia. It serves as the performance arm of the Cayambis Institute for Latin American Studies in Music (CILASiM), which seeks to strengthen the awareness and appreciation of Latin American music by developing a full spectrum approach to its creation, performance and scholarship, and in so doing, cultivate bonds of goodwill and unity among the people of the Americas.