Queens Tribune

The spirit of Leonard Bernstein is alive and well in Queens.

At a press conference this Monday to kick off its 56th year, the Queens Symphony Orchestra announced its plans for the upcoming 2008-2009 season. Fans of the legendary “West Side Story” composer will be thrilled to learn that “Lenny’s” influence will permeate all of the group’s performances this year at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center.

The Queens Symphony Orchestra will hold three performances this season to celebrate the late American composer, who would have turned 90 in August. The first, on Oct. 25, will showcase “Jeremiah,” Bernstein’s very first symphony, which he wrote at age 26 and performed for the first time in 1944 with the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra. On Feb. 21, the group will focus on Bernstein’s musical influences, including Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky and English composer and educator Benjamin Britten. And the final concert series performance, which will be held on May 9, will feature a chorus made up of local high school students, all of whom will accompany the orchestra in performing Bernstein’s “Chichester Palms” and “Three Meditations from Mass,” a collaboration that would have made Lenny proud.

“Leonard Bernstein single-handedly made it possible for American conductors to work,” Music Director Constantine Kitsopoulos said. “He was also a great music educator. He started the Young People’s Concerts. He had a way of explaining music that made it understandable.”

The Orchestra will further Bernstein’s mission by offering its own Young People’s Concerts and Workshops this season, which will allow students from local elementary schools to attend live performances, speak with musicians, and learn about music theory and the role of a conductor in the orchestra. The nonprofit organization will also resurrect its Young Soloist Competition this year, a contest that gives young instrumentalists the opportunity to audition for the Queens Symphony Orchestra and earn a seat as a solo performer with the orchestra.

“It can’t be stressed enough how much exposure to music can affect a young person,” said Jim Boyle, general manager of Atlas Park Mall, which sponsors several Queens Symphony Orchestra performances.

With the downturn in the economy, Boyle added, people are becoming increasingly more interested in discovering entertainment options in their own community. With series ticket prices ranging from $5 to $30, the Orchestra is an economically-sound option.

“We’re not always able to take our families to a concert and buy two hundred dollar tickets,” he said. “The Queens Symphony Orchestra is contributing a great deal to the community.”

For more information visit www.queenssymphony.org or call (718)326-4455.