Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra presents the debut of Sarah Ioannides with the ensemble Uncommon Gems on Sunday November 2 at 3PM at The Second Church in Newton (60 Highland Street, West Newton). Ioannides has curated a program designed to surprise and delight, spotlighting rarely performed works that reveal unexpected brilliance and character.
The program opens with Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, a vivid, rhythmically charged suite originally written for piano and later arranged by the composer for chamber orchestra. Swedish composer Elfrida Andrée’s Intermezzo — an effervescent miniature drawn from one of her symphonies — has been newly orchestrated by Jonathan Spatola-Knoll, conducting assistant for Symphony Tacoma. This performance marks its East Coast premiere.
The concert also includes the world premiere of an orchestration of Aaron Copland’s Duo for flute and chamber orchestra by D. Wilson Ochoa, principal librarian of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Originally written for flute and piano, the work now places the orchestra—rather than the piano—in dialogue with the soloist, offering a fresh context for Copland’s quintessentially American lyricism. The program concludes with Francis Poulenc’s Sinfonietta, a colorful and witty work brimming with the composer’s trademark sparkle and Parisian charm.
Praised by The New York Times for her “unquestionable strength and authority,” Sarah Ioannides serves as Director of Orchestral Activities at Boston University and Music Director of Symphony Tacoma. Her conducting career spans six continents, and she has previously held music directorships with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra (Texas) and the Spartanburg Philharmonic (South Carolina). Ioannides made history as the first woman to hold a full-time conducting position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Ann Bobo, Pro Arte’s principal flutist, also holds principal positions with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and performs regularly with the Boston Lyric Opera. Her extensive freelance career includes performances with the Boston Pops, Boston Symphony, and Portland Symphony orchestras. A dedicated educator, she teaches at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, The Rivers School Conservatory, and maintains a private studio.
Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra is a member of the Newton Cultural Alliance.
