News

Dear Patrons,

Welcome to The Orchestra of Northern New York’s 29th season celebrating LIVE music! We have chosen a wide array of brilliant orchestral masterpieces from our Classics to our Pops series.

Come hear why this Orchestra is heralded as “One of the Sweetest Sounds in New York” by the I Love NY Campaign. We know you will enjoy these great programs performed by world-class soloists and inspired professional musicians from Northern New York and beyond.

I look forward to seeing you at our concerts. Thank you for continuing to “Celebrate LIVE Music!”

Kenneth Andrews, Music Director

The American Pops concert in Watertown's Thompson Park scheduled for Friday, July 1, has been moved to the Watertown High School Auditorium due to expected thunderstorms.  The concert, which is free and open to the public, begins at 8 p.m.

POTSDAM—The Orchestra of Northern New York has met a challenge posed by the Northern New York Community Foundation to win a $5,000 grant.

ONNY had to increase its attendance at its Watertown Concert Series in 2015-2016 by 30%  to earn the award. In fact, attendance at the first four concerts has grown by 62%.

Last fall, the Northern New York Community Foundation awarded ONNY $10,000 toward the 2015-2016 five-concert series, which includes the free Summer Pops concert to be held in Thompson Park on July 1. That's when the additional $5,000 challenge was issued.

“We continue to enjoy our partnership with ONNY and the important work they do. We have been glad to invest in enhancements to the quality of life in the region through our grants to ONNY, and we applaud them for their efforts to build both current and long-term sustainability, including an endowment fund at the Foundation,” said Rande S. Richardson, Community Foundation executive director.

ONNY executive director, Kathryn M. Del Guidice, said the Orchestra was pleased with the response from the Watertown community. "We are working hard to build an audience in the greater Watertown area, so the results this year are really exciting."

To help position itself for success with the challenge, ONNY initiated a Watertown Advisory Council last year to provide feedback to the board of directors about Watertown and surrounding communities, and the orchestra's programming and promotional efforts.  The group met twice and offered valuable insight into marketing opportunities.

Current Watertown Advisory Council members include: T. Urling and Mabel Walker, Michael Miller, Richard Lake, Agnes McCarthy, Emily Sprague, Totter Crossley, and Don Alexander.

"We especially thank our Advisory Council members for their guidance and support that led to this increase in attendance and made the NNYCF grant possible," Del Guidice added. "They helped us understand that there is a perception in the Watertown area that the Orchestra is a community group, not the professional symphony orchestra that it is. That information led us to shift our marketing messages to emphasis the professional musicians who compose the orchestra, such as Paul Wyse who was the featured soloist at the spring concert held recently."

The Orchestra is currently in its planning stages for the 2016-2017 Season which would again include a five-concert series in Watertown if funding is secured. An application to the NNYCF for $20,000 in support has been submitted.

"NNYCF's support is essential to producing the Watertown Series. As we see more members of the military and more children attending the concerts there, we are confident that audiences will continue to grow in the future," Del Guidice noted.
For more information about ONNY, visit www.onny.org or call 315-267-3251.

POTSDAM - One of the most majestic and popular piano concertos of all time will be performed by internationally acclaimed pianist and Steinway artist, Paul Wyse, when The Orchestra of Northern New York presents its spring classical concert at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 16 in SUNY Potsdam's Hosmer Hall, and again at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, April 17 in the Dulles State Office Building, Watertown.

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major, Op. 83 is the centerpiece of the concert.  The powerful and pastoral music of Dvorak's Czech Suite in D Major, Op. 39 opens the program.  Kenneth Andrews, founder and music director of ONNY, conducts the 60-piece orchestra.

Mr. Wyse will perform on a nine-foot concert grand Steinway piano being shipped from Artist-Pianos, Syracuse by a special moving company for the Watertown concert. The instrument's value is $162,000.

Wyse thrills audiences with his stunning artistic vision, poetic style, and virtuosity. The Miami Herald hailed him as "...a musician of uncommon perception, possessing lots of facility and fire."

He has been seen in concert in the United States, Canada, Central America, Europe, and New Zealand. Highlights include the premier performances for the Royal Family of Monaco, concertos with the New World Symphony, the Gettysburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the Peabody Chamber Orchestra, and The Orchestra of Northern New York. Wyse has had an amazing career (see paulwyse.com) with ONNY, performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Beethoven's Concerto No. 4, Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2,  Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1, and now Brahms Concerto No. 2.

He has made radio appearances on WGBH Boston, the Australian Broadcasting Company, the New Zealand Broadcasting Company, and recently appeared on New York Public Television performing Sonatas for Violin/Cello and Piano of L.V. Beethoven. He has collaborated in performance with such greats as Michael Tilson Thomas, Vladimir Feltsman, Carter Brey, José-Luiz Garcia, and Paula Robison. 

Also, a trained visual artist, Wyse has painted portraits that hang in North America's finest collections including the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, the Steinway Hall historical portrait collection, and the House of Commons of Canada. His list of notable portraits include, pop legend Billy Joel, Kennedy Center Award winning conductor and pianist Leon Fleisher, 34th Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken, and Harry Connick Jr. In 2015, he became the first Steinway Artist to have designed and hand painted a Steinway art case (model D) piano, on which he will perform as a recitalist in the major cities of the world. For more information visit www.wysefineart.com.

The concert is presented with support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature.

Tickets for the spring concert are $22 for adults, $18 for seniors and military personnel, and $5 for students 6-17 and college students with I.D. They are available by calling 315-267-2277 or online at www.onny.org.

POTSDAM - The Orchestra of Northern New York proudly announces a donation has been received to name the principal bass chair in the Orchestra as the Robert B. Washburn Chair.

Brooks Washburn, Potsdam, and his sister, Roberta Washburn Scharf, Albany, gave the gift in memory of their parents, Robert B. and Beverly D. Washburn, who were generous supporters of the arts and music in the Potsdam area for many years.

Our father often played double bass in several orchestras, and I remember for many years my parents also housed the principal bass player for ONNY when in Potsdam for concerts," Brooks Washburn said. "Bassists aren't featured much, but you would miss them if they weren't there," he added.

Beverly was a founding member of the Women's Air Force band, as a tuba player, while she was stationed in San Antonio, TX from 1949 to 1953. There she met and married Robert B. Washburn, also in the U.S. Air Force in San Antonio.  She was a fifth and sixth grade Social Studies teacher at Potsdam Central School from 1966 until her retirement in 1986. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Potsdam Museum and treasurer for many years of the St. Lawrence County chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Robert was the chief arranger for the Air Force Band of the West and the Air Force Sinfonietta when he met Beverly, and also played in the San Antonio Symphony.  Following military service, he joined the faculty of the Crane School of Music. There, he was Dean, Professor Emeritus, and Senior Fellow in Music.

Washburn was a world-renowned composer with more than 150 compositions to his name. His works have been performed at EXPO '67, at the White House, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center, to name a few. In 1980, he composed music for the opening ceremonies of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.

Washburn received numerous awards, grants, and commissions during his career, including a Fulbright Senior Fellowship, and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to his activities as a teacher and composer, he was a specialist in music from Africa and Asia.

Travel was his and Beverly's passion; they visited over 76 countries on six continents for both pleasure and research.  But they always came home to the North Country.

The Orchestra of Northern New York is honored by the Washburn gift. It is the only year-round, professional symphony orchestra between Ottawa and Burlington, and Plattsburgh to Syracuse. ONNY performs six concerts a year in Potsdam and four in Watertown. Now in its 28th season, ONNY operates on a $200,000 budget. Its 70+ musicians perform under the leadership of music director and ONNY founder, Kenneth Andrews.

"For over 50 years, Robert and Beverly Washburn were important contributors  to the Orchestra, the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam and all aspects of the arts and life in Northern New York," said Mr. Andrews. "We are humbled and proud to accept this generous donation from the Washburn family."

For more information about ONNY or to learn about opportunities to support the orchestra, contact Executive Director Kathy Del Guidice at 315-267-3251 or visit www.onny.org.

POTSDAM, NY - The works of one of the greatest composers of all time come to life when professional actors and the North Country's only professional, year-round orchestra join forces to present a multi-media sensation next week.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs, a world-famous production of Classical Kids Music Education of Chicago, will be presented at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 18 at the Clayton Opera House, and at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 19 in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam.

Equity actors Andrew Redlawsk, New York, portrays Christoph, the young lad whose life is turned upside down by the presence of a new boarder - Beethoven - as he learns to understand the composer's moods and frustrations with going deaf; and Thad Avery, Chicago, who plays Christoph's uncle and helps him deal with the new turmoil in his life.

The show features a lively exchange of letters between the young boy and his uncle. Their subject is the "madman" who has moved into the upstairs apartment in Christoph's Vienna home. As the correspondence unfolds, Christoph recounts the horrors of the composer standing naked at the window, water dripping into their apartment, and Beethoven playing late into the night.

Finally, after attending the famous first performance of the Ninth Symphony, Christoph comes to understand the genius of Beethoven, the torment of his deafness, and the beauty of his music.

The Orchestra will perform more than twenty excerpts from Beethoven's greatest works, including Moonlight Sonata, Symphonies 5 - 9, Fur Elise, and more.

Soloists are concertmaster John Lindsey, violin, and John Wyse and Francois Germain, pianos, both of whom are renowned performers and faculty members at the Crane School of Music.

Music Director/Conductor Kenneth Andrews opens the concert with Beethoven's Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens, Op. 113 (1812).

Also performing will be Kathryn Kovarik, violin, winner of the 10th annual James and Katherine Young Artist Competition, held last month in Potsdam.  She will play - from memory - Mendelssohn's Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64 (1844).

Kovarik, 17, is a senior at Manlius Pebble Hill School near Syracuse. A student of Linda Case, she won the Onondaga Civic Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition in 2014 and 2015. She has been both assistant concertmaster and concertmaster for the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra and, in 2015, won the concerto competition for that orchestra. She is the daughter of David and Heidi Kovarik, Syracuse.

Tickets for the Potsdam performance can be purchased by calling 315-267-2277 or visiting www.onny.org. For the Clayton Opera House performance, call 686-2200.

The Orchestra of Northern New York is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature.

Winners of the Tenth Annual James and Katherine Andrews Young Artist Competition, sponsored by Orchestra of Northern New York, are shown here with ONNY Music Director Kenneth Andrews. From left to right, first place winner violinist Kathryn Kovarik, 17, Syracuse; second place winner harpist Shannon Boyle, 17, Potsdam; and third place winner pianist Rachel Sohn, 16, Clifton Park. The event was held in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam on Saturday, February 13.  Kathryn Kovarik will perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, third movement, with the Orchestra at its next concert on March 19, at 7:00 p.m. in Hosmer Hall at the Crane School of Music.

POTSDAM - A senior at Manlius Pebble Hill School near Syracuse won the 10th Annual James and Katherine Andrews Young Artist Instrumental Competition, sponsored by the Orchestra of Northern New York, on Saturday, February 13, in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam.

Kathryn Kovarik, 17, won the first place prize of $500 and the opportunity to perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, third movement, with ONNY at its next concert on March 19 at 7 p.m. in Hosmer Hall.  A student of Linda Case, Ms. Kovarik has also won the Onondaga Civic Symphony Youth Concerto Competition in 2014 and 2015. She has been both assistant concertmaster and concertmaster for the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra. Last year, she won the concerto competition for that orchestra. She is the daughter of David and Heidi Kovarik, Syracuse.

Shannon Boyle, 17, from Potsdam took the second place prize of $300 by performing Concertstuck by Gabriel Faure. A home-schooled senior, Ms. Boyle has been studying harp for nine years. She has participated in Crane Youth Music, where she studied harp under Jessica Suchy-Pilalis. Ms. Boyle has also attended the Eastman School of Music summer music program. She is the daughter of John and Catherine Boyle, Potsdam.

Rachel Sohn, 16, of  Clifton Park, played the Piano Concerto No. 2, first movement, by Camille Saint-Saens to win the $150 third place prize. Ms. Sohn is a junior at Shenendehowa High School and has been studying piano since the age of four. For the last eight years she has studied with Dr. Young Kim, College of St. Rose. She has won several competitions in central New York. She is the daughter of Jaewoong Sohn and YooHee Kim, Clifton Park.

This year's competition involved seven students from Potsdam, Brownville, Syracuse and the Albany area. Applicants competed on piano, harp, flute, violin and viola.

The competition was established in 2007 to honor James and Katherine Andrews, great supporters of various activities for young people, especially those involving music. The mission of the competition is to inspire young musicians from northern and central New York to reach their highest level of artistry. It is one of the few competitions of its kind to offer both a cash prize and the opportunity to solo with a professional orchestra.

For more information about next year's competition or the Orchestra of Northern New York, contact Kathy Del Guidice, Executive Director, at 315-267-3251 or visit www.onny.org.

POTSDAM - Seven talented high school students from northern and central New York will converge on Snell Music Theatre, SUNY Potsdam at 10:00 a.m.,  Saturday, February 13th to compete in the 10th Annual James and Katherine Andrews Young Artist Competition, sponsored by the Orchestra of Northern New York.

The public is invited to watch in amazement as these young musicians play from memory pieces from an approved classical repertoire that range in length from seven to fifteen minutes. The students vie for first prize of $500 and the opportunity to perform with Northern New York's professional symphony orchestra at its March concert.

This year's applicants will compete on piano, harp, flute, violin and viola. They hail from Potsdam, Brownville, Syracuse, Clifton Park and Colonie.

The competition was established in 2007 to honor James and Katherine Andrews, great supporters of various activities for young people, especially those involving music.  The mission of the competition is to inspire young musicians from northern and central New York to reach their highest level of artistry. It is one of the few competitions of its kind to offer both a cash prize and the opportunity to solo with a professional orchestra. Cash prizes are also awarded to the second and third place winners.

For more information about the Orchestra of Northern New York, call 315-267-3251 or visit www.onny.org

Announcing our Winter Fundraising Dinner

An Italian Affair

Sunday, January 31, 2016
5:00 p.m.
Sergi's Banquet Hall
10 Market Street, Potsdam

Join Maestro Kenneth Andrews and ONNY musicians for a delicious supper fit for a king immediately following the Baroque concert, Music for the Royal Fireworks!

$25/person, which includes a $10 tax-deductible donation to ONNY.

Reservations and payments required by Noon, Friday, Jan. 29th. Call 315-267-3251 or click here for tickets.