Genesee Symphony Orchestra

The Genesee Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce an addition to their 2015 concert series. They will perform free of charge at Jackson Square, Downtown Batavia, at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 12.

"This is a departure from our typical four-concert schedule," says Board Member Patty Hawley, "but not unheard of. The GSO has performed benefit concerts in the past."

While this is technically a free event goodwill donations will be gratefully accepted.

"Like any local nonprofit, the GSO depends on the support of local arts agencies and our loyal audience," Hawley says. "This is a way for us to reach out to people who may be unfamiliar with the GSO while raising some much-needed funds for programming." 

Greg Docenko, GSO's concertmaster, will conduct the orchestra through a series of popular tunes. The musical selections include: "Star Spangled Banner," "Gabreielli," "Blue Danube," "My Fair Lady," "Can Can," and Brass Group featuring Kevin MacLaud, Typewriter, Pirates of the Caribbean, "The Frog Prince," "Star Wars" Theme.

The GSO is also looking for board members to begin serving in August 2015. Terms are three years in length. For more information about this concert of how you can become a GSO board member contact Paul Saskowski at psaskowski@geneseearc.org. 

The Genesee Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors hosted a farewell luncheon at GO ART! this afternoon for Raffaele Ponti, the musical director and conductor of the orchestra for 18 years who will conduct his final concert with the GSO tomorrow.

The luncheon was attended by board members and several longtime orchestra members, including Helen Grapka, pictured above with Ponti and his daughter, Sofia.

Sofia is holding the violin Grapka played for 46 years with GSO. She sold it to the Ponti family, along with the violin of her late husband, John, when she retired from music a few years ago. Sofia will play it during her featured performance at tomorrow's concert.

Grapka is the last surviving founding member of GSO.

In the 1940s, she and her husband played with a small orchestra organized by a local man who wanted to be a conductor each Jan. 1 at the old folks home in Bethany. At the 1947 show, Helen and John had a conversation with two members of their string quartet and decided they should start a local orchestra.

The GSO's first concert was later that year, in November, at the old Dipson Theater. Some 1,400 people attended and hundreds more were turned away at the door. Grapka remembers men showing up in tuxedos and the women dressed in long gowns and minks.

From the beginning, the orchestra attracted the finest musicians in the area and had a dozen first violinists that first season.

John Grapka was musical director at the New York State School for the Blind and after teaching at a public school for six years, Helen taught music at the School for the Blind for 20 years.

She's proud that what she and her husband started has lasted into the 21st Century.

"If anything ever happens and it all falls apart, it will never happen again," Grapka said. "It's important to keep it going because it's such an important cultural thing for the community."

Tomorrow's concert is at 4 p.m. at Batavia High School.

Ponti with an award presented to him by Board President Paul Saskowski and Board Member Roxanne Choate. 

Below are pictures from yesterday's rehearsal at Batavia High School. Dave Mancini is also performing with the orchestra tomorrow. The Rochester resident will perform on some of his own compositions, including "A Piece for Him," which he wrote and dedicated to his father. Members of the Student String Workshop (featured in some of the photos below) will also perform with the orchestra.

Jonathan Jaeger, music instructor at Roxy's Music in Batavia, practices with students Lucia Sprague, John Patt and Kirk Ellison. The students are preparing for Sunday's performance with the Genesee Symphony Orchestra of the "1812 Overture" and "Concerto Grosso."

Showtime is 4 p.m. at Batavia High School.

The concert will also feature drummer Dave Mancini and his original compositions of "A Peace For Him" and  "Symphony of Peace." 

It is also the final concert under the direction of Conductor Raffaele Ponti.

Photo submitted by Debbie Patt.

Nationally renowned drummer and composer Dave Mancini joins the Genesee Symphony Orchestra on Sunday afternoon in a performance that will include popular pieces such as "Caravan" and the world premier of Mancini's own "Symphony of Peace."

The 4 p.m. performance at Batavia High School will be the last GSO concert under the direction of Conductor Raffaele Ponti.

Ponti's daughter, Sofia Ponti, will also be featured on violin.

Mancini composed "Symphony of Peace" and dedicated it to his father, a World War II veteran.

The Rochester resident is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has performed with Chuck Mangione, Rosemary Clooney, Maureen McGovern, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis and Bop Hope, as well as Doc Severinsen, the Boston Pops, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, New York Pops, Vancouver Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony.

Other pieces in the concert include Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," Vivaldi's "La Primavera," Fiesta Latina, Concerto Grosso by Antonio Vivaldi, the "1812 Overture."

There will also be a performance by participants in this year's string workshop.

Tickets are available at GO ART!, Roxy's Music, Batavia Senior Center and the Bank of Castile branch in Le Roy, and are $15 for adults, $7 for students, $10 for seniors and $35 for a family with children 12 and under.

Photos are from Monday's rehearsal.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Landmark Society of Genesee County is teaming up with the Genesee Symphony Orchestra for a special concert 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 8. 

The concert will feature two slideshows of Genesee County's historic and architectural gems, each set to a different musical piece.  Photographers whose work will appear include Howard Owens, Genesee County Historian Larry Barnes, Landmark Society President Lucine Kauffman, Laurie Baker Oltramari and others.

"It's partly a nostalgic look back," Kauffman said. "There are pictures of buildings that have been lost (as a result of urban renewal). But it ends on a positive note. There is still a lot left in Genesee County that is historically and architecturally significant."

Kauffman said one of the goals of this event is to raise awareness of and pride in this heritage among Genesee County residents, and to encourage good stewardship of what we have.

First, the audience will be treated to Ottorino Respighi's "Church Windows" and a slideshow of windows from various Genesee County churches -- including, among many others:

• St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Resurrection Parish), Ellicott St. in Batavia
• Temple Emanu-El, Bank St. in Batavia
• St. James Episcopal Church, Route 5 in Batavia
• Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Route 20 in Darien Center
• North Bergen Presbyterian Church, North Bergen Road in Bergen
• Indian Falls United Methodist Church, Route 77 in Corfu
• St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church (Our Lady of Mercy Parish), Route 19 in Le Roy

Next, they will enjoy Charles Ives' "Three Places in New England." The first movement of this song will be set to a slideshow of various Genesee County barns, celebrating the County's agricultural roots. The second movement will accompany images of old Batavia and of buildings being knocked down during urban renewal. Finally, the third movement will score a slideshow of Genesee County sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including:

• Stafford Four Corners Historic District
• Historic Batavia Cemetery
• Alexander Cobblestone Town Hall
• Richmond Memorial Library
• Augustus S. Tryon House (Le Roy)
• Batavia VA Medical Center
• Gifford-Walker Farm (Bergen)

The concert will begin at 4 p.m. at Genesee Community College's Stuart Steiner Theater, at 1 College Road in Batavia. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for students, $10 for seniors and $35 for families (parents and children 12 and under).

People may purchase tickets at the door or in advance at the following locations:

• GoArt!, 201 E. Main St. in Batavia
• Roxy's Music Store, 228 W. Main St. in Batavia
• Batavia Senior Center, 2 Bank St. in Batavia
• Bank of Castile, 29 Main St. in Le Roy
• Online at www.geneseesymphony.com/tickets

Photos: Friday's rehearsal. By Howard Owens.

To purchase prints, click here.

Conductor Raffaele Ponti, who has been the musical director of the Genessee Symphony Orchestra for 15 years, announced yesterday prior to the start of the season-opening concert, that this will be his final season with the GSO.

Ponti recently relocated from Rochester to Florida as his career continues to advance.

The GSO board will announce soon plans for hiring a new conductor, its 14th in its 67-year history.

Above, Ponti with GSO Board Chairman Paul Saskowski.

Below, some photos from yesterday's performance at St. James Episcopal Church, Batavia.

The Genesee Symphony Orchestra opens its 2014 season at 4 p.m. tomorrow at St. James Episcopal Church, Batavia.

Raffaele Ponti will conduct the orchestra for a program titled "Reformation Symphony." The guest artist is organist Ann Emmans. Pieces include Felix Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 5, and Camille Saint-Saens, Symphony No. 3.

Tickets are $15 each and available at the door.

The GSO will also debut its 2014 fundraiser, a raffle for a pair of 1/4-carat each diamond stud earrings created by Lambert's Design Jewelers in Batavia.Tickets are 1 for $5 and 3 for $10.

Drawing will be at the April concert.

These photos are from today's rehearsal.

The Genesee Symphony Orchestra hosted a string workshop today at the United Methodist Church on Lewiston Road. Music Director and Conductor Raffaele Ponti led the workshop.

Members of the Genesee Symphony Orchestra are busy getting their act together for the GSO's concert Feb. 16 at St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia.

Tonight, the orchestra rehearsed at the First Presbyterian Church in Batavia.

Raffaele Ponti is the conductor and music director for the show, which will feature soloists Holly Bewley, a soprano, and pianist Isabelle Aubin (who were not part of tonight's rehearsal).

The program includes works by Leonard Bernstein, Mozart, Annunzio Montovani, Leroy Anderson, Schubert and John Williams.

Tickets are available at geneseesymphony.com as well as GO ART!, Roxy's Music and the Batavia Senior Center and in Le Roy at the Bank of Castile.

Top photo: Lynn Eberhardt, of Scottsville, on bass.

A violin in the hands of Jill Babinski.

Dave Funston, of Batavia, on drums.

Conductor and music director Raffaele Ponti.

Dave Porter, trombone

Rick Fleming will conduct the Genesee Symphony Orchestra in a holiday concert Sunday at St. Mary's.

The program features compositions by Leroy Anderson, Mozart, Bach and David Rose as well as a performance by the Oakfield-Alabama Elementary School Chorus, directed by Danielle Mileham.

The concert begins at 4 p.m.

Fleming is an associate professor of music and director of bands at Buffalo State. He is founding conductor of the Erie County Chamber Winds and conductor of the Buffalo Silver Brass Band.

These photos were taken at the orchestra's Friday night rehearsal.

Music students from nearly a dozen communities were in Batavia today for a strings workshop sponsored by the Genesee Symphony Orchestra.

The goal of the workshop was to prepare students to play in a concert April 29 at Elba Central School alongside members of the GSO.

Maestro Raffaele Ponti led the workshop assisted by string teachers Jonathan Jaeger, Andrea Meier, Annie Wright and Claudia Diebold.

While most of the students were children, adult students were also welcome.

Students attended from Perry, Pavilion, Elba, Batavia, Albion, Brockport, Pittsford, Wyoming, Middleport, Le Roy and Corfu.

The two pieces practiced today were "Dance of the Tumblers" from the "Snow Maiden" by Rimsky-Korsakov and "Barcarolle" from "Tales of Hoffman" by Offenbach.

From the Genesee Symphony Orchestra:

On Sunday, February 22 the Genesee Symphony Orchestra will present their third concert of the season. Featured in this concert will be the participants of the String Workshop playing Grieg's Holberg Suite with the members of the GSO. Our guest artist is violinist, Wilfredo Deglans, Associate Concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic. The program includes: Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 5 (Reformation); Chausson, Poeme, op 25—violin and orchestra—Grieg, Holberg Suite, op 40; Ravel, Tzigane, rapsodie de concert, for violin and orchestra. The concert will be performed at GCC-Stuart Steiner Theatre at 4:00 PM. Tickets may be purchased in Batavia at GoArt!, Roxy's Music Store, Enchanted Florist and at GCC Box office. In LeRoy tickets may be purchased from the Bank of Castile and in Oakfield at Water Street Printing.