LONGY CONSERVATORY ORCHESTRA LONGITUDE CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE
The Longy Conservatory Orchestra, consisting of all string, woodwind and brass students, is the primary ensemble for orchestral training and repertoire at Longy. Conducted by Julian Pellicano, the LCO presents six orchestral concerts and one fully staged opera per season, exploring a wide range of repertoire encompassing baroque and contemporary music in addition to the standard classical and romantic orchestral canon. The concert season is divided into four concerts presenting repertoire for chamber orchestra in Longy’s Pickman Hall, and two concerts programmed for full orchestra performed off-campus. Works performed in recent seasons include Schumann: Symphony no. 4, Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes, Sibelius: Symphony no. 2, Adams: The Wound Dresser, Haydn: Symphonies no. 92 and 104, Beethoven: Symphony no. 8, Brahms: Symphony no. 2, Barber: Knoxville Summer of 1915, Weill: Mahagonny Songspiel, Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 4, Golijov: Last Round and Dvorak: Symphony no. 9.
Sectionals and training sessions with Longy faculty members, including members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, provide students with well-rounded instruction in orchestral technique. The LCO also works together with Longy’s composition department in readings and performances of student compositions.
In addition students also perform in Longitude, Longy’s contemporary music ensemble. Directed by composer/conductor Paul Brust and violist Kate Vincent, Longitude is dedicated to the study and performance of 20th and 21st century music. The group performs 3 concerts per season and collaborates with Longy’s composition department in the “Longitude Commissioning Project”, a workshop and performance of new works written by student composers. Longitude’s concerts feature masterworks of the 20th century as well as the newest contemporary pieces, often working directly with composers in the process. Recent guests have included Leon Kirchner, John Harbison, Yehudi Wyner, Lee Hyla and Donald Crockett, as well as Longy’s own composition faculty.
