The Aiken Civic Orchestra will kick-off its ninth season on Aug. 21. The group plans to have a full-capacity season, however, with the ongoing news of variants the calandar will be subject to change.
The Aiken Civic Orchestra was founded by music director and Aiken native Adam DePriest as a community ensemble for local musicians. It began as a volunteer string ensemble of 12 players. After five years of building a reputation among string players, the orchestra added winds, brass and percussion to become a full, symphonic orchestra.
In February 2018, ACO became a nonprofit. With an emphasis on featuring local talent, the orchestra performs about 12 programs a season with music ranging from popular to masterpieces and even contemporary works, covering a dynamic range of composers. Their mission is to provide an artistic home that engages musicians and audiences from the greater Aiken and CSRA communities through the performance of orchestral repertoire, educating and enriching the human spirit.
The Aiken Civic Orchestra collaborates with many area vocal ensembles on a regular basis and also partners with other musical and non-musical organizations and enterprises, living up to their motto of “celebrating community through music.”
The season begins at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21, with “Unfinished Business.” The program consists of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” in B Minor, and Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor. Anastasia Petrunina will be the violin soloist for the Violin Concerto. The concert will be at the USC Aiken Etherredge Center, 471 University Parkway. General admission tickets are $20 with students admitted free of charge. Tickets are available at the Etherredge Center Box Office by calling 803-641-3305.
The next concert will be Sept. 11 at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Titled “A New World of Music: A Special Healing for Aiken, SC,” the program will acknowledge the shared struggles of the pandemic, the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the 150th birthday of Aiken County. Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Gary’s Song by Richard Maltz, “Morning” from Peer Gynt, and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” in E Minor will be performed. Joining the orchestra will be the St. John’s Chancel Choir to sing a patriotic set.
A “Symphonic Spooktacular” event will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Etherredge Center. This is a Halloween Pops concert, and audience members are encouraged to wear costumes. Traditional music associated with the holiday will be performed as well as hits from blockbuster movies, including film scores by John Williams.
Two performances of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem will be held in November. The first performance will be 7 p..m on Nov. 2 at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, 138 Fairfield St. S.E. The second performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 in Columbia. This is a collaboration with the Columbia Choral Society under the direction of Dr. Beth Mears.
“An Aiken Christmas Celebration” will be at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Highlighting the sounds of the season, this concert will feature voices from a couple of area choirs.
To bring in 2022, Aiken Civic Orchestra will once again team up with members of the Aiken Composers’ Guild to present a concert titled “New Year, New Voices.” This concert will feature new music of current composers from the area. This concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15, at the Etherredge Center.
The annual Winter Nocturne will return to to USCA at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 with pianist John O’Conor performing an all-Beethoven program. He will play the “Pathetique” and “Moonlight” sonatas on the first part of the program. After intermission, the Aiken Civic Orchestra will take the stage to accompany him in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor. Tickets will be available at the Etherredge Center Box Office.
“A Night at the Opera,” originally planned for April 2020, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. March 12, at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Opening the concert will be the Triumphal March from Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. Also on the program will be Jules Massenet’s Meditation from Thais and Georges Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1. Additionally, there will be arias from other operas along with a chorus, featuring such local soloists as Sho Ane Seaton and Washington Isaac Holmes.
On April 30, at 7:30pm at St. John’s United Methodist Church, the Aiken Civic Orchestra will perform Celebrating Young Artists. A collaborative program, the concert will feature the orchestra students of Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School in Augusta. The students are under the direction of Dr. Laura Tomlin. The concert will begin with Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture. The guest soloist for the evening will be Ismail Akbar performing the solo cello part to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme.
Akbar performs in several professional orchestras around the southeast including Augusta Symphony, Aiken Symphony, Greenville Symphony, S.C. Philharmonic, and others. The Davidson students will begin the second half with a couple of selections on their own under Dr. Tomlin’s baton. The concert will conclude with the Davidson students joining the Aiken Civic Orchestra for a side-by-side performance of the last movement to Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C Minor.
For more information on the ACO or the upcoming season, visit aikencivicorchestra.org.
