Summer Orchestra to feature faculty soloists

Faculty and students practice before the Summer Orchestra show on Friday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Entering into his seventh year as Associate Professor of Music at Wichita State, Mark Laycock, PhD, is looking to create an experience that will pull new audiences into the world of symphony.

Around 60 performers have been in rehearsal for the upcoming Summer Orchestra since June 18th. These musicians are a mixed group of performers in the community. Laycock estimates that around two-thirds of the performers are affiliated with Wichita State.

Along with current students, there are also incoming high school graduates, Wichita State alumni and adult musicians from the community. Wichita State alum and current music teacher at Hamilton Middle School, Melody Turley, has taken part in the Summer Orchestra for about five years.

“It’s a great opportunity for the recent high school graduates to further their skills,” Turley said. “The music is challenging and it’s good exposure for them to play with more experienced musicians.”

Laycock said he sees the Summer Orchestra as an opportunity to expand audiences.

“During the year, we try to challenge the students with lesser known works, but the summer is an opportunity for us to be more relaxed and play some crowd pleasers,” Laycock said.

This summer’s performances will include Beethoven’s classical dramatic “Egmont Overture” and Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 8 in G Major.” These dramatic works are both popular in movies and theatre. Laycock expects the majority of the audience to recognize them.

Also in the mix for this year’s performance are solos and duets from soprano Emily Sternfeld-Dunn and tenor Randolph Lacy, both faculty members at Wichita State. They will perform songs from 20th century American Musical Theatre artists George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

Melody Turley said that the vocal accompaniment made preparation for the performance a little different than usual, as this is the first time she and many of the other musicians will perform with vocalists.

The performance will be held Friday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Miller Concert Hall.