BY MARY E. LEREW
For 80 years, Danbury Music Centre has provided opportunities to perform and hear classical music in the greater Danbury area. Danbury Music Centre is home to three orchestras, the Danbury Concert Chorus, an annual “Nutcracker” ballet, recital series and summer programming. Each of the ensembles consists of volunteer musicians and admission to almost all concerts is free of charge.
The Danbury Music Centre is housed in a beautiful 19th-century building, formerly the public library, on Main Street, Danbury. In 1994, the Danbury Common Council dedicated the upstairs rehearsal hall in honor of the late Marian Anderson, a world-renowned contralto who was a resident of Danbury and who served on the Music Centre Board of Directors.
On Sunday, May 3, Danbury Community Orchestra will present a delightful concert of pieces by George Bizet, Vasily Kalinnikov and Duke Ellington. Danbury Community Orchestra is a unique ensemble that welcomes teens to play alongside experienced adults in a supportive and artistically adventurous environment. Stephen Michael Smith, music director and conductor of the Danbury Community Orchestra, will lead the May 3 concert, 7 p.m., the Visual and Performing Arts Center on Western Connecticut State University’s Westside campus.
On May 9, the Danbury Symphony Orchestra and Danbury Concert Chorus will team up to present a concert of selections from operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Conductors Ariel Rudiakov and Christine Howlett lead these ensembles that have been a part of the Danbury Music Centre since its inception in the 1930s.
Danbury Music Centre’s Summer Festival features workshops and ensembles for musicians of all ages and levels of experience. Programming includes summer strings, summer bands, African drumming, a cappella, clarinet choir, South Indian classical music workshop and chamber music intensive with artists-in-residence who are graduates of the Juilliard School and other major conservatories.
If you are a listener looking for high-quality concerts or if you are a musician looking for an opportunity to play or sing in an ensemble, Danbury Music Centre is the place to get involved! For more information, visit our website: danburymusiccentre.org or call us: 203-748-1716.
Mary E. Lerew is executive director of Danbury Music Centre, a member of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.
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