The Grove City College Symphonic and Chamber Orchestras will take one small step for man, one giant leap for musical performance during the Fall Concert “Space Pops” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12 in Ketler Auditorium in the J. Howard Pew Fine Arts Center on campus.
Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the concert is free and open to the public. Parking is also free.
The program highlights selections relating to outer space in a celebration of classic film scores and American history. The Symphonic Orchestra will present pieces from the acclaimed Star Wars score composed by John Williams, including the “Main Title,” “Princess Leia’s Theme” and “The Imperial March.” The Orchestra will also play a compilation of popular television and movie themes from the Star Trek universe. The Chamber Orchestra will perform the finale from Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter.” The concert concludes with the Symphonic Orchestra’s performance of Holst’s “Jupiter” from “The Planets.”
The program features a performance of “Apollo 11”, an original composition by Grove City College Trumpet Instructor Drew Fennell. The composition follows NASA’s space launch and three-day journey to the historic Moon landing.
Both orchestras are conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Tedford ’00, associate professor of Music and director of orchestras at the College.
“I am very excited to offer this hybrid concert of popular, classical and contemporary music based on outer space themes,” Tedford said. “So many community and professional orchestras perform “pops” concerts today and I wanted to provide our students with the opportunity to learn and perform music of the highest quality in this genre. I am thrilled to share this programmatic music with our audience.”
Guests are encouraged to bring cameras for photos with costumed Star Wars characters at the concert.