Chorale, orchestra set spring concerts

The Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra will be presenting its spring concerts this weekend.

The first concert will be held Friday, June 7, at 7 p.m. and the second concert will be a matinee event at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 9. The free spring concerts will both be held in the First Lutheran Church on Olive and Ontario in Sandpoint.   

The program has a great variety of composers and styles, including 16th century madrigals that open the concert, singing about music and the fickleness of love. Following those is a lyrical piece by the romantic composer Johannes Brahams, again about love. Hen the chorale shifts to a well known traditional spiritual “Hold On!”

Flute soloist Alisha Dawson accompanied by Caren Reiner follows, playing the well know “Fantasy” by Gabriel Faure closing the first half. 

After a brief intermission, the middle movement of the Italian Symphony, No. 4, by Felix Mendelssohn, opens the second half. This is followed by a newly written trio by Mark Reiner featuring flutist Alisha Dawson, violinist Gayle McCutchan, and violist Marcy Hogan. “This piece is a whimsical contrast to ‘Be Still’,” said composer Mark Reiner. Two pieces from “Frostiana” by Randall Thompson, use the evocative poetry of Robert Frost. Men’s chorus will sing “The Pasture,” and the women’s chorus will sing “A Girl’s Garden.”

Ending the concert is the premiere of “Be Still” for chorale and orchestra. “This piece represents humanity’s overcoming of the frantic, anxiety producing mindset prevalent in the world today. The orchestra takes the part of the restless, anxious mind while the chorale symbolizes the stillness and peace of spiritual perception,” said composer Mark Reiner.

Reiner thanked First Lutheran Church on Olive Street for servings as the concert venue and the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Pine Street for offering rehearsal space.