by JILL SCHMELZER Reporter

The Amherst Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 61st season with Music of Our World, featuring influential composers from around the universe.

The performance will begin with preconcert events at 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28 at Amherst Middle School, 55 Kings Highway, Snyder. Marie Zak, a master pianist and music teacher, will open the night with the melodic sounds of the stringed instrument.

The night will focus on the piano and will feature 11-year-old pianist Duo Xu (pronounced Doe She).

Xu was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1995 and is one of the youngest musicians to perform in the orchestra's 61-year history. She began classical training at the age of 8 with Wang Yan Qiao, a composer and pianist. However, she first tickled the ivories at age 4.

"No matter what language you say it in, music is something the whole world shares," according to the ASO.

The performance will take place at 7 p.m. with a work by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who arranged 15 pieces, including two piano sonatas, an ingenious set of 24 preludes and fugues, as well as an earlier set of 24 preludes.

Duo Xu, pianist

As the orchestra moves into sounds from Austria, the audience will hear music by composer Wolfgang Mozart.

Xu will perform Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto.

Mozart composed more than 600 works, and ASO will share a few with people from Western New York. It has been 250 years since the musician's birth.

Continuing on with sounds of the world, ASO will share some French background by Emmanuel Chabrier. His most memorable composition was his Spanish rhapsody Espana.

Traveling to South America, the orchestra will perform a piece by Astor Piazzolla, who is considered the most important tango composer of the latter half of the 20th century.

The orchestra will then bring it home with the American composer George Gershwin. His classical pieces include "Rhapsody in Blue," Concerto in F, and Second Rhapsody, originally titled Rhapsody in Rivets.

Perhaps some of his most remembered songs come from musicals such as "I've Got Rhythm" and "Embraceable You" from the Broadway musical "Crazy for You."

The concert will be directed by Steve Thomas, who is celebrating his 10th season with the Amherst Symphony Orchestra.

Steve Thomas, Conductor/Music Director

"On this his 10th anniversary as music director of the Amherst Symphony Orchestra, I salute a man who has dedicated his life to music and community," said David Kim, Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. "When it comes to his music, Steve has never lost his sense of wonder and discovery. Those who perform with him can only be swept along in enthusiasm."

The shuttle bus for this year's program will run from Amherst High School to Amherst Middle School, beginning at 5:45 p.m. The event is free of charge and is sponsored by Evans National Bank.

Denton, Cottier and Daniels will sponsor a hallway display of pianos. The DVD documentary films, "The Way We Were" and "Success Our Way" will also be available for a minimum contribution of $10.

For more information, call 633-4606.