Symphonic Band Presents "Lincoln Portrait" April 21

April 02, 2009

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (April 2, 2009) - The SUNY Plattsburgh Symphonic Band, under the direction of Daniel Gordon, will present a concert, celebrating two presidents, on Tuesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. in E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium, Hawkins Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

The centerpiece of the program will be Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," which features texts from Lincoln's speeches. Gordon chose to perform this work in honor of the 200th anniversary. The performance will also celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama, who, like Lincoln, is from Illinois. The narrated text has remarkable relevance to today's world, according to Gordon.

The narrator will be J.W. Wiley, director of the SUNY Plattsburgh Center for Diversity, Pluralism, and Inclusion.

Other works to be performed are Vaclav Nelhybel's "Chorale," Percy Grainger's "Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonny Doon," Ralph Vaughan Williams's "English Folk Song Suite," Clifton Williams's "Arioso," and John Philip Sousa's best-known march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever."