UPDATE: Due to predicted rain in Rome on Saturday, this performance has been moved to Sunday 9/8.
The Syracuse Orchestra performs light classical favorites, patriotic tunes, and popular standards. All ages are welcome for a relaxed evening of music followed by fireworks. This concert is free to attend and you do not need a ticket.
PROGRAM:
SMITH: Star Spangled Banner
SMETANA: Bartered Bride, Overture
COPLAND: Variations on a Shaker Melody
GRANT STILL: Symphony No. 1, Mvt 3
ANDERSON: Blue Tango
BERNSTEIN: West Side Story, Overture
LOWDEN: Armed Forces Salute
INTERMISSION
WILLIAMS: Summon The Heroes
VAN HEUSEN/LEWIS: Swinging on a Star
CUSTER: Salute to the Big Bands
KONDO: The Legend of Zelda
WILLIAMS: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Children’s Suite for Orchestra
SOUSA: Presidential Polonaise
BERLIN/HEALY: God Bless America
TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture
Thanks to our Summer Concert Series sponsors!
FEATURED ARTISTS
![](https://syracuseorchestra.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Hong-Thomas.jpg)
Hailed by Kurt Masur as “One of the most talented young conductors of his generations,” THOMAS HONG enjoys the privilege of being one of many successful protégés of the great Maestro. Having won titled positions with the Dallas, Pittsburgh and Seattle Symphony Orchestras as well as Orchestre ...
Hailed by Kurt Masur as “One of the most talented young conductors of his generations,” THOMAS HONG enjoys the privilege of being one of many successful protégés of the great Maestro. Having won titled positions with the Dallas, Pittsburgh and Seattle Symphony Orchestras as well as Orchestre National de France, Hong has conducted countless concerts with those orchestras, ranging from classical, community, education and pops concerts.
Presently, he is the artistic director and conductor of the University of Pennsylvania Orchestras. Recent activities include being principal conductor for the inaugural season of the DSO on the GO series with the Dallas Symphony, performing in neighboring venues of the North Texas area, and a re-engagement with the Utah Symphony, where he was the conductor for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City.
Orchestras that Hong has conducted in the past include the Utah, Fort Worth, Virginia, Richmond, Spokane and Winnepeg Symphonies as well as the Seoul, Buffalo and Lutosławski Philharmonics. More recent invitations include the Berlin Symphony, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Siciliana and Cairo Symphony Orchestra. Among his operatic and vocal performances are Copland’s The Tenderland, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Donizetti’s L’exisir d’Amore at the Wortham Opera Theatre in Houston. Awards that Hong has received include the Leopold Stokowski Fellowship, the Whitaker Opera Prize and a residency award by the Brahms society of Baden-Baden. His latest recording was from the show “From the Top” with pianist/host Christopher O’Riley and the DSO at the Meyerson Symphony Center.
Hong was born in Incheon, Korea and immigrated to the United States with his family. He began his musical training as a pianist with Dr. Samuel Hsu at Cairn University. Later, he went on to earn a masters degree in choral conducting at Temple University and an artist diploma in orchestral conducting from The Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Maestros Alan Harler and Otto Werner Mueller, respectively. He concluded his artistic training with Maestro Larry Rachleff at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Currently, Hong lives in Philadelphia with his wife Rachel Ku and their daughter Esther.