This Spring, we’re welcoming a new voice to the stage as Maestro Ric Jones passes the baton to BSO’s Associate Conductor, Jonathan Allentoff.

The concert features the following pieces:

Symphony No. 5 (World Premiere)	Emmanuel Sikora-Mori	3:00
Vocalise for Flute, Clarinet, and Orchestra	Sergie Rachmaninoff, arr. Jonathan Allentoff Flute Soloist: Philip Nash Clarinet Soloist: Vince Cassano	6:00
Dance of the Hours	Amilcare Ponchielli	9:40
Symphony No. 9 (World Premiere)	Emmanuel Sikora-Mori	3:00
Violin Concerto No. 1, G Minor, Op. 26: Vorspiel. Allegro moderato	Max Bruch, Violin Soloist: Ben Butler	8:30
Brief Intermission		8:00
Broadway Selections: I Got Rhythm & On the Sunny Side of the Street	George & Ira Gershwin arr. by Jonathan Allentoff Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields arr. by Jonathan Allentoff Vocal Soloist: Michael DeLuca	8:00
Symphony No. 6, B Minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique): Finale	Pyotr Tchaikovsky	9:00

Emmanuel Sikora-Mori

Symphony No. 5 and 9

In the composer’s own words:

“The Fifth and Seventh Symphonies of Jean Sibelius have a special place in my heart; it’s nature music at its most magical and least sentimental; I tried to emulate this kind of nature music in my own two little symphonies. No. 5 in C (Op. 67) [the opus number is a tongue-in-cheek nod to Beethoven’s Fifth] and No. 9 in E-flat, paraphrase the Sibelius Seventh and Fifth Symphonies respectively. No. 5 is my feelings of being in the leafless landscape in the weeks before the first snowfall; No. 9 is an attempt to paint an Upstate New York, winter landscape – I always felt the last page of the Sibelius Fifth, with its chords followed by long periods of silence [a page I “borrowed”], captures the magnificent silence and open spaces of a cold, snowy countryside.”

Emmanuel Sikora-Mori’s YouTube Channel

 

Amilcare Ponchielli

Dance of the Hours (Danza delle ore)

Amilcare Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours stands as one of the most recognizable masterworks in the orchestral repertoire. Though originally composed as an ensemble ballet for the third act of his 1876 opera, La Gioconda, the piece has long since eclipsed the opera itself to become a beloved concert staple.

Within the opera’s narrative, the dance symbolizes the eternal conflict between light and darkness, structured into four evocative sections: Dawn, Afternoon, Evening, and Night. While the opera is rarely staged today due to its daunting vocal requirements, the Dance of the Hours remains a pop classic of Italian Romanticism—celebrated for its melodic charm, dramatic flair, and rhythmic precision. Its modern immortality was further cemented by Disney’s Fantasia (1940), which reimagined the ballet with a comedic cast of animated ostriches (Dawn), hippos (Afternoon), elephants (Evening), and alligators (Night), transforming a traditional spectacle into a masterpiece of physical comedy.

Sergie Rachmaninoff

Vocalise for Flute, Clarinet, and Orchestra

Sergie Rachmaninoff’sVocalise is among the most poignant and celebrated works of the 20th century. Originally composed for high voice and piano and published in 1912 as the final entry of his Fourteen Songs, Op. 34, the piece is unique for its wordless melody. The singer performs the entire work using a single vowel—typically a resonant “ah” or “oh”—allowing the music to bypass the specificity of language and express a sense of pure emotion. Because there are no lyrics to dictate a narrative, listeners are invited to project their own feelings of longing, nostalgia, or grief onto its arching phrases.

Rachmaninoff dedicated the work to the leading soprano of the era, Antonina Nezhdanova. When she famously asked why he provided no text, he replied: “What need is there for words, when you will be able to convey everything better and more expressively by your voice and interpretation than anyone could with words?” While written for the voice, the melody is so intrinsically lyrical that it has been transcribed for nearly every melodic instrument imaginable. Tonight, we are treated to Maestro Jonathan Allentoff’s own evocative arrangement for flute, clarinet, and orchestra.

Max Bruch

Violin Concerto No. 1, G Minor, Op. 26: Vorspiel. Allegro moderato

Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26, is a cornerstone of the Romantic repertoire, standing proudly alongside the great concertos of Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. Its opening movement, titled Vorspiel (Prelude), is unique in classical music for its departure from traditional, rigid sonata form.

Eschewing the standard structural rules, the movement unfolds like an operatic recitative or a fantasy. It moves through dramatic outbursts and soaring lyrical passages, acting as a grand gateway to the following Adagio. The violin enters almost immediately with two bold, cadenza-like flourishes that engage in a dialogue with the orchestra. Throughout the movement, Bruch utilizes the violin’s lowest string—the G-string—to produce the rich, muscular tone that defines the work’s somber G-minor mood.

Though Bruch began sketching ideas for the concerto at age 18, the work underwent a long and restless evolution. Following an initial 1866 premiere conducted by the composer, Bruch remained dissatisfied and undertook extensive revisions with the guidance of the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim. This collaboration resulted in the definitive version we hear today, which premiered to great acclaim on January 7, 1868, in Bremen, with Joachim as the soloist.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 6, in B Minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique) Finale

Premiered on October 28, 1893, under the composer’s own baton, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 concludes with a finale that remains one of the most revolutionary and devastating in the symphonic repertoire. In an era when major symphonies typically ended with a fast, heroic movement, Tchaikovsky defied tradition with his Adagio lamentoso—a slow, emotional descent into silence.

The finale follows a life-cycle trajectory of profound grief: it begins with a high-tension shout in the strings, followed by a lyrical, prayer-like second theme that offers a fleeting moment of consolation. This leads to a dissonant climax punctuated by a single, muffled strike of the gong (tam-tam). In orchestral music, this is often interpreted as the “knell of death.” In the aftermath, the trombones and tuba perform a somber chorale reminiscent of the Russian Orthodox Requiem, as the music slowly flatlines.

Tragically, Tchaikovsky died just nine days after the premiere. It was his brother, Modest, who suggested the title Pateticheskaya (Passionate), which has since become immortalized in its French translation: Pathétique.

Michael DeLuca 

Will perform two quintessential selections from the Great American Songbook: On the Sunny Side of the Street and I Got Rhythm. Both premiered in 1930 as the Great Depression began to tighten its grip on the world; consequently, both served as rhythmic, optimistic anthems that helped define the burgeoning Swing era.

I Got Rhythm, composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, was originally written for the Broadway musical Girl Crazy. It is arguably the most influential piece in jazz history, second only to the 12-bar blues, due to its foundational chord progression.

In contrast, On the Sunny Side of the Street, by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, is less a technical blueprint and more of a vibe. Introduced in Lew Leslie’s International Revue, the song remains the ultimate musical representation of optimism, urging listeners to “leave their worries on the doorstep.”

Sit back and embrace the sunshine as we enjoy Maestro Jonathan Allentoff’s vibrant orchestral arrangement of these two classics.

Ben Butler, Violin

Violinist Ben Butler was born and raised in Webster, NY and has studied the violin for eight years. He currently studies violin at Toth Music Studio with Rochester violinist and Brighton Symphony concertmaster Lisa Toth. For several years, Ben has held the position of first violinist with the Brighton Symphony Orchestra. Ben has also participated in numerous recitals and string and orchestral festivals, including performing as soloist for the Ying Quartet masterclass at Houghton University Summer String Festival. Ben recently received the Dean’s Music Scholarship from Houghton University, where he will continue his studies as a Violin Performance major there. Ben seeks to pursue both solo and collaborative music in his professional future. 

 

 

 

Vince Cassano, Clarinet

Vince has worked as an actuary for USI CG in their post-retirement benefits consulting group for the last 17 years. He grew up in the Rochester area and began playing clarinet at the age of 10, studying with Ernest Lascell and Stanley Hasty. While in high school, he played clarinet with the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and toured England and Scotland with them. He has played with numerous orchestras and other groups over the years.

Philip Nash, Flute

Philip Nash, a retired dentist, has enjoyed flute playing since the age of ten. In addition to his work with the Brighton Symphony, he leads the flute section of the Finger Lakes Community Band. 

A native of New York City, Philip’s teachers have included Sylvia Philips and Henry Zlotnick. At Eastman School of Music, he was a student of John Thomas. Currently, his primary teacher is Joanna Bassett, formerly of the Rochester Philharmonic, and he also studies with Betsy Hudson Traba of the Sarasota Orchestra.

In addition to music, Philip enjoys reading, traveling, and winters in Florida.

 

 

Michael DeLuca, Vocal Artist

An accomplished vocalist, Michael DeLuca is comfortable performing musical styles ranging from Early Music to contemporary musical theater. He has appeared as both vocal soloist and narrator with several local Symphony Orchestras in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, and performs regularly with the Brighton Symphony Orchestra, Brockport Symphony Orchestra, Greece Community Orchestra, and the Greece Performing Arts Society Festival String Ensemble. A vocal student of Heinz Rehfuss while at the State University of New York at Buffalo, today Michael leverages his broad musical background into the development and recording of studio albums, which are available on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and all other major streaming platforms.

Before expanding his footprint as a musician, Michael DeLuca spent over 25 years as a marketing professional working with digital products and components for Eastman Kodak Company, Truesense Imaging, Inc., and ON Semiconductor. He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University.