The celebration of America’s 250th birthday continues with a program of all-American composers conducted by Marine Band Assistant Director 1st Lt. Jose D. Toranzo. This Marine Chamber Orchestra performance will take place at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 1 at Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria.  

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“‘Home and Heart’ centers on American music and the idea of belonging,” Toranzo said. Featuring some of the most iconic American composers of this century, the performance starts off strong with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. Copland, known as the “Dean of American Music,” composed the fanfare during World War II to honor the “every-day American” on the homefront. The fanfare is known for its simplicity and compelling emotional depth.  

The performance continues with Lucas Foss’ cheery and playful Three American Pieces, featuring Master Gunnery Sgt. Erika Sato as violin soloist. “[Three American Pieces] is a beautiful tribute to both Copland and Bernstein and paints Americana in three short movements,” Sato said. She continued,  

“We travel through the plains with a young, playful innocence in the first movement. In the second, there’s a maturation, a growth in the character that you can hear, alternating between the gentle soaring themes and the more uneasy mixed-meter middle section. When we get to the last movement, it’s like we have arrived in the big city, and we are trying out all these new and exciting things through fun and playful dance-like motifs. There is an overarching theme of growing up throughout the piece, and that, coupled with all of the musical imagery, is something people can connect with.” 

George Whitefield Chadwick’s Sinfonietta in D is reflective of the new American composition style that evolved in the late 19th century. Chadwick was revered as a teacher and composer, most notably known as a leading member of the “Second New England School,” a group of composers whose musical style was heavily influenced by European education. Chadwick’s Sinfonietta in D blends American charm and European tradition to create catchy melodies enjoyable to all audience levels.  

Next on the program, Amy Beach’s Three Browning Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, Opus 44 is a set of expressive art songs that will feature Staff Sgt. Hannah Davis as the soprano soloist. Beach, known for being America’s first large-scale female classical composer, wrote Three Browning Songs as a musical setting to Robert Browning’s poems. This work demonstrates her talented approach to creating moving and rich musical environments for performers and audience members alike.  

The concert closes with David Diamond’s Music for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As with the other composers on the program, Diamond had a profound impact on the world of composition throughout his nearly 70-year career. He is most known for romantic modernism pieces, including Music for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The five-movement piece is just as dramatic as the play itself, chronicling the alternating strife and devotion present. Each movement follows the story of different characters, and the work ends with the tragic death of young lovers.  

The concert is free. Tickets are not required. 

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