Arts

Juno Orchestra presents ‘Discoveries’

BRATTLEBORO — Juno Orchestra, in residence at the Brattleboro Music Center, will perform two concerts to open the month of June.

Entitled “Discoveries,” the four works on the June program are likely new to most concertgoers - “even the two pieces composed over 200 years ago,” Music Director Zon Eastes said in a news release.

Performances are set for Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 2, at 4 p.m. at the Brattleboro Music Center.

Juno Orchestra, closing out its second season, is Vermont's newest professional chamber orchestra.

“We are especially thrilled to introduce a commissioned work by composer Paul Dedell, titled 'Serenity,'” Eastes said. “Together, the orchestra and audiences will discover Dedell's take on New England's seasons.”

“I've been inspired by the life and words of Henry David Thoreau,” Dedell said. “I've been struck by the vitality of Thoreau's language and impressions. It's a special opportunity indeed to contemplate ways to highlight Juno's special strengths.”

In addition to this newly composed piece, Juno will present a string symphony composed by the variously talented William Herschel, the English astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus.

Herschel, not commonly known in U.S. concert halls but widely recognized in the world of astronomy, composed more than 20 symphonies. Symphony No. 8 in D minor is arresting in its “Sturm und Drang” (storm and stress) expressivity and coloration.

Juno offers local audiences another discovery in a rarely heard work by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Impromptu, created in 1894 for string orchestra, melds two early piano pieces into a thoughtful ABA song form.

The fourth work in the upcoming program is Haydn's 43rd Symphony in E-flat Major, “Mercury.”

According to a news release, “audiences will discover Haydn's perspective on procrastination, crackling speed, perfectly well-mannered over-repetition, and simple, unadorned loveliness.”

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