Expanded orchestra concert Friday

MOUNT VERNON — Three upcoming concerts will pair Cornell student ensembles with professional ensembles. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Cornell Chamber Orchestra will be joined by The Palisades Ensemble for a Good Friday concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 21, in King Chapel.

Professor Martin Hearne directs the Cornell Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and The Palisades Ensemble, comprised of Cornell faculty members and professional musicians from Eastern Iowa.

The Palisades Ensemble will perform Stravinsky’s “Eight Instrumental Miniatures” and Strauss’ Serenade, Op. 7. The Cornell Orchestra will perform Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a. On the title page of the Shostakovich piece, the composer inscribed “To the memory of the victims of fascism and war.” Shostakovich said that the quartet was inspired by the ghostly devastation he had witnessed in the bombed city of Dresden, Germany, during World War II.

The Palisades Ensemble will return to King Chapel to perform with the Cornell Orchestra Friday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. The program will include The Palisades on Gounod’s “Petite Symphony” and the Cornell Orchestra on Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major.

The Cornell Wind Ensemble will perform with the renowned Eastern Iowa Brass Band on Friday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in King Chapel.