Community Musicians Join Students in UCR Orchestra Concerts

The UCR Orchestra will present a program Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at University Theatre with ticket prices starting at $6.

The UCR Orchestra includes community members alongside students, faculty and staff. The 70-member orchestra includes 51 students, 12 community members, two current faculty members, two emeritus faculty, two UCR alumni and one staff member, according to conductor Ruth Charloff.

"The community and faculty players contribute so much — guidance, continuity, social support and their musical experience," Charloff told The Raincross Gazette. "Some of them are filling instrumental roles for which we may not have a current student."

The concerts will feature UCR piano faculty member Todd Moellenberg as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor. The program also includes Aaron Copland's "Outdoor Overture," José Pablo Moncayo's "Huapango" celebrating dance traditions from Veracruz, Mexico, Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Rhosymedre" led by student conductor Chris Shimoon, and a suite from Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen."

"'Huapango' is hugely well-known and popular in Mexico, practically a kind of second national anthem," Charloff said. "And the suite from 'Carmen' contains the best, most popular tunes from that steamy opera, a few of which — like Carmen's famous 'Habanera' and the 'Toreadors' music — will be startlingly familiar to many people who've never seen the opera."

"He's bringing to the concerto not only virtuosity and precision but a great understanding of Mozart's language," Charloff said. "It's been terrific to collaborate with him."

General admission tickets cost $10, compared to professional orchestra tickets that often exceed $100. Students and seniors pay $8, while children's tickets are $6.

"UCR Orchestra concerts are pretty informal — no need to dress fancy," Charloff said. "The audience loves to see and hear our students so incredibly focused on bringing all our skills together to make something exciting and beautiful. I like to talk with the audience a little, to connect with them and help put the pieces in context."

"Audiences both in and out of the community come to our concerts with different amounts of experience of this tradition — some come with a lot of background and context, but many come to see friends or family in the orchestra and get blown away by the music itself," she said.

"Their presence shows the students that an ongoing life with music is enriching and so valued," Charloff said of the community members.

The orchestra will also present a free family concert on April 19 as part of its endowed Esther Hays Family Concert series.

More information: UCR Orchestra performs Saturday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1, at 3 p.m. at University Theatre, 900 University Ave. Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 for students and seniors, $6 for children.