Bon Voyage Concert precedes Europe tour

SPARTA — The Sussex County Youth Orchestra will perform a Bon Voyage Concert on June 19 at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Sparta at 3 p.m. Seventy-six musicians and chaperones will depart for a European tour to Vienna, Prague and Berlin the following weekend. The concert on Sunday will feature typical American songs that our European neighbors will recognize. A medley of Duke Ellington Big Band favorites including “It Don’t Mean A Thing If it Aint Got That Swing” and a “Salute to the Big Apple” which features “New York, New York!” will be performed here at home for family and friends and in Europe as the SCYO travels as New Jersey’s Ambassadors of Music. The “Bugler’s Holiday “ by Leroy Anderson will be played by our outstanding trumpet section and the famous theme from “Star Wars” by John Williams will be enjoyed by young and old alike. Barbara Garrison, a professional musician and mentor to our young musicians, will perform “Napoli” by Herman Bellstedt on the euphonium. Of course, European composers will be represented like Strauss in “Die Fledermaus,” Shostakovich in “Festive Overture” and Vivaldi. Alan Tedesco, brass mentor and charter member of the Sussex County Youth Orchestra as well as the elementary music teacher in Kinnelon, will perform with Carolyn Douthat, member of the Sussex County Youth Orchestra and 1st chair in the NJ All-State Wind Ensemble, the "Concerto for Two Trumpets and Orchestra" by Vivaldi.
The community is invited to join in this send off to the SCYO/NJ Ambassadors of Music. The concert is free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
Funding for this concert has been made possible in part with funds from the N.J. State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council.