Le Moyne College has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Central New York Community Foundation for the Visual and Performing Art's (VPA) upcoming project, "Romeo & Juliet - In Concert!"
In April 2016, VPA will present four performances of William Shakespeare's masterpiece in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of his death. Director of Theatre Matt Chiorini will direct actors in fully-staged scenes and the Le Moyne College Chamber Orchestra will perform excerpts from works inspired by the piece, including works by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Bernstein and others, slated for April 28 to 30. Performances will take place in the W. Carroll Coyne Center for the Performing Arts on the Le Moyne campus.
The Community Foundation grant will enable the College to involve students from the Syracuse City School District and other area school districts as musicians in the orchestra, as well as inviting schools to participate in acting and stage combat workshops, in addition to interacting with the cast and attending performances.
"We are so thankful to the Community Foundation for their support of this exciting project," said Travis Newton, who will conduct the performances and is an assistant professor at Le Moyne. "To add a new dimension to this project, we chose to look beyond Le Moyne's borders and into the community, as we often do. This will be a tremendous opportunity for talented young musicians and actors from around the district to participate in a dynamic and unique theatrical and musical experience."
The grant will also enable members of Symphoria to conduct clinics with students from Le Moyne and the school districts throughout the rehearsal process, as well as perform side-by-side with the student performers in concert.
"Symphoria is delighted to collaborate with Le Moyne on a project that we know will be engaging for both the student participants and our professional musicians," said Catherine Underhill, managing director of Symphoria. "Collaboration is a core value for the new orchestra, and this project is especially welcome because it provides us the chance to work with directly with younger musicians."
Tickets may be purchased online
at this link or by calling (315) 445-4200.