The SLU String Orchestra includes SLU students, faculty, staff members, and musicians from all over the Northern New York community.
Hope inspires music, and likewise, music helps to inspire Hope. As many of us use hope to overcome various life challenges, few things compare to those who face the violence and loss of war.
It is for this reason the String Orchestra dedicates our performance on December 4th to the people of Ukraine and stands with them in the spirit of hope.
Our program opens with a moving work by award-winning composer John Williams from the 2005 motion picture Munich, entitled A Prayer for Peace. As we continue through the program, we explore works by well-known contemporary composers such as Samuel Barber, Astor Piazolla, and Karl Jenkins, many of which convey a sense of hopefulness and reflection in mostly minor keys.
About halfway through, the feeling of hope shifts to more uplifting tempos and works in major keys, beginning with Brian Balmages’ Forever Joyful and an arrangement of Billy Joel’s sublime work for orchestra, Elegy: The Great Peconic. We conclude the program with a final piece of hopeful serenity entitled Water Lily, by Matt Riley.
We invite you to take this musical journey of hope with us, for the people of Ukraine, and for all of us seeking hope.
The concert is free, open to the public, and in-person with livestreaming.