Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra to perform March 15

The Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra’s first performance since returning from its East Coast tour will be at 8 p.m. March 15 in Alice Pratt Brown Hall’s Stude Concert Hall. The performance will be conducted by Larry Rachleff, the Walter Kris Hubert Professor of Orchestral Conducting.

The evening’s program will begin with Verdi’s Preludio to Act I, “La Traviata,” followed by a performance of Anthony DiLorenzo’s “Phoenix for Horn and Orchestra,” featuring soloist William VerMeulen, professor of horn at Rice.  The work was composed for VerMeulen through a commission by the International Horn Society.

“I am delighted to be a part of the world premiere of ‘Phoenix,’ a terrific new concerto for horn and orchestra by Anthony DiLorenzo,” VerMeulen said. “This is an important new work that is emotive, virtuosic and immediately accessible. DiLorenzo is an extremely successful composer for film and television, and the influences from the best Hollywood composers are heard throughout the work.”

VerMeulen said performing the piece at Rice will be especially gratifying.

“My heart and soul live in this building, where I have committed my career to helping these wonderful young players achieve their dreams,” he said.

Following intermission, the orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique.” The four-movement masterpiece, which touches on the extremes of the emotional spectrum, has the distinction of being Tchaikovsky’s final completed symphony and was premiered just nine days before his death in 1893.

Admission is free; no tickets are required. For more information, visit www.music.rice.edu.