Maestro Michael Neumann's vision of putting together an orchestra of 1,000 musicians came to fruition Sunday, when Memorial Auditorium was filled with the sounds of Sousa, Dvorak, Strauss, Beethoven and other composers.
Capital Public Radio "At the Opera" host Sean Bianco was the event coordinator and Insight host Beth Ruyak was the emcee. Bianco said the group was the largest-ever assembly of symphony musicians to perform in California. He added that a symphony of 7,000 performed recently in Australia, leaving the door open for a symphony of 10,000 in the future.
The concert included the following pieces:
- Anthem Medley
- Colonel Bogey March - Alford
- Stars and Stripes Forever - Sousa
- Great Gate of Kiev - Moussorgsky, arr. Reibold
- Fandango - Rimsky - Korsakov, arr. Isaac
- New World Symphony - Dvorak, arr. Meyer
- Prelude from Carmen Suite - Bizet, arr. Kriechbaum
- Hallelujah Chorus - Handel, arr. J. Isaac/R. Suleiman
- Can-Can - Offenbach, arr. Meyer
- Aragonaise from Carmen - Bizet, arr. Meyer
- Radetzky March - J. Strauss, arr. Meyer
- Ode to Joy - Beethoven, arr. D.R. Bellwood
The performance was recorded for broadcast by Access Sacramento, and will be available at a later date.
CapRadio Music recorded the final piece, Ode to Joy, by Beethoven:
