The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra has announced its final concert of the 2023-24 season, Passing the Baton, a program featuring D’indy: Chanson et Danses, Op. 50, and Vivaldi: The Four Seasons held at the First Presbyterian Church in Ithaca on May 19.
The CCO was founded in 1976 and is officially designated “Ithaca’s Orchestra.” Each season includes an Orchestral Series, Chamber Music Series, a Holiday concert, a Family Concert Series, and the long-standing Willard Daetsch Youth Outreach Program, which earned the 2015 Yale Distinguished Music Educator award. In 2017, the CCO added a Youth Orchestra, which offers a high quality symphony orchestra experience for youth in Ithaca and the Finger Lakes region of New York State.
Taking the podium for his last concert as Interim Music Director, Grant Cooper will conduct the orchestra in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the CCO’s very own concertmaster, Christina Bouey, as soloist. The program will also feature CCO winds in D’Indy’s Chanson et Danses, Op. 50. The CCO is currently completing its selection of the next Music Director and will be announcing the name at the concert.
Grant Cooper, a native of New Zealand, served as the CCO’s interim music director for two seasons after serving as the orchestra’s director at Ithaca College. The Houston Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Syracuse Opera, and many more have been among his numerous guest conducting engagements. Along with the Kennedy Center Orchestra, he has had notable debuts on the international scene with the Malaysian Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Cooper was also the creative director and conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra in addition to being the resident conductor of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.
Also performing at the Passing the Baton, is Concertmaster Christina Bouey who was hailed by the New York Times for playing “beautifully,” by the New York Post, “When violinist Christina Bouey spun out that shimmering tune, I thought I died and went to Heaven.” Her recent prizes include Grand Prize at the Vietnam International Chamber Competition, first prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in the chamber division, Grand Prize at the Fischoff Competition, 1st place in the American Prize, and 2nd prize at the Osaka International Chamber Competition.
In addition, Bouey founded and plays in the Ulysses String Quartet. She performs on a 1790 Storioni violin that a kind private donor has lent her. As a soloist, Bouey has appeared with numerous orchestras, including the Banff Orchestra, Greenwich Symphony, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Salina Symphony, River Cities Symphony, Symphony of the Mountains, Tonkünstler Ensemble, Metro Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Symphony, and Prince Edward Island Symphony.
For more information and tickets, fans can visit CCOithaca.org or contact the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Box Office at 607-273-8981 or info@CCOithaca.org.
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