ECSO Concert: Sounds of Scotland - Saturday, February 24, 2024, 7:30pm Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London, CT 06320

Description

Scotland’s rugged, island-bound geography and the romantic history of its tartan-wearing clans have captivated audiences for centuries, right up to today’s streamers of Outlander. Setting the tone for the ECSO’s February 24 concert will be the overture to Giuseppe Verdi’s 1847 opera Macbeth, based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy about the murderous 11th-century Scottish general. Hamish MacCunn’s The Land of the Mountain and the Flood, first performed in London’s Crystal Palace in 1887, evokes the breathtaking Scottish landscape. Its title is from a Walter Scott poem, The Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney’s heritage is Irish, not Scottish, but he composed the 10-minute classical work Spiral while living on a farm in Scotland in 1999, the year after the death of his wife Linda. Next, with a guest appearance at the end by bagpiper Mike MacNintch, the ECSO will play An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise by Peter Maxwell Davies. Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 1985 under the baton of John Williams, the piece is based on an all-night wedding celebration attended by the composer. Following intermission, the program will conclude with German composer Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, known as the “Scottish,” completed in 1842 after a gestation that began with the 20-year-old Mendelssohn’s three-week visit to Scotland in 1829.       

There will be a complimentary post-concert reception.

To purchase tickets:

Single tickets to events are available for purchase through the ECSO and Garde Arts Center website at ectsymphony.com and gardearts.org, or by calling the Garde Arts Center box office at 860-444-7373, ext. 1.

In addition to a range of affordable single-ticket options—from $65 to as low as $12—the ECSO offers those under 40 years of age and active or retired military members $12 tickets in selected sections.

Mike MacNintch (bagpiper) Bio:

Mike MacNintch has been playing bagpipes since 1977, originally learning from Avery Head, the pipe major of the Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band. In 1986 he joined the Manchester Pipe Band, under the direction of Pipe Major Chuck Murdoch. Mike was Pipe Major of the Manchester Pipe Band from 1998 until 2000.

He has played throughout the Northeast, as well as Canada, Scotland and Brittany with a variety of artists, including the Paul Winter Consort, the Breton pipe band Bagad Bro Kemperle, Scottish fiddler Paul Anderson, the Cambridge Revels, and has performed many times with The Chieftains.

In addition to the Highland pipes, Mike plays the Scottish smallpipes, French cornemuse, and the Breton bombarde, biniou and veuze. He is a founding member of Bagad New York, the only Breton pipe band in North America, and is the pipe major of the Stephen P. Driscoll Memorial Pipe Band, based in Carmel, N.Y. When not performing or teaching bagpipes, he works for the well-known Uilleann (Irish) pipe maker Seth Gallagher, and also makes the Scottish smallpipes.
 

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The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to announce our 2023-24 season lineup, curated by Music Director & Conductor Toshiyuki Shimada. Season highlights include the 100^th Anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue, The Tom Brown 6, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Chorus singing Haydn’s Lord Nelson’s Mass, and international guest artists. From early fall to late spring, the 75-plus member professional Symphony Orchestra presents six subscription concerts annually, most of which feature guest soloists. Subscription concerts are primarily performed at the historic award-winning Garde Arts Center on State Street in New London.

Visit ectsymphony.com for more information and follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube) @ectsymphony. In addition to a range of affordable single-ticket options—from $65 to as low as $12—the ECSO offers those under 40 years of age and active or retired military members $12 tickets in selected sections.

Founded in 1946 by Norwegian immigrant Victor Norman, the ECSO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the eastern Connecticut region, including New London, Norwich, Waterford, Groton, Mystic, Old Lyme, and East Lyme. Recent concerts in Norwich, Willimantic, and Stonington reflect our renewed dedication to serving a broader area.

Our mission is to inspire, educate, and connect our communities through live orchestral music.