'Romantic Russians'
ASO to present UB pianist, children's concert
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter

Harry Graser

Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Amherst Symphony Orchestra will hold the next installment of its Amazing Area Artists 2007-08 concert season with "Romantic Rachmaninoff" at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 at Amherst Middle School, 55 Kings Highway, Snyder.

The concert will feature the music of Russian composers Sergei Rachmaninoff, Pytor Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov and Aram Kachaturian.

Guest starring for this concert will be pianist Stephen Manes, professor emeritus of music at the University at Buffalo and a former Snyder resident.

He has twice presented the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas at UB.

Manes has performed with orchestras that include the New York and Buffalo philharmonics and the Pittsburgh, National, Detroit, Baltimore and Denver symphonies, and he has played solo recitals throughout the United States, Europe and Australia.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, he has performed with string quartets and at the Marlboro and Chautauqua music festivals.

While Manes is the main event, the symphony will also hold its fourth annual Children's Concert featuring 11-year-old pianist Harry Graser.

Stephen Manes, professor emeritus at the University at Buffalo and former Snyder resident, will be the guest performer at the Amherst Symphony Orchestra's Romantic Rachmaninoff" concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 at Amherst Middle School, 55 Kings Highway, Snyder.

Harry, a sixth-grader at Amherst Middle School, began studying violin at age 3 and has twice been the recipient of the Lucinda Yang Memorial Scholarship to attend a summer violin institute.

At age 8, Harry began piano lessons and began substituting for Amherst Symphony Orchestra president John Olsen at Ascension Lutheran Church.

Last year, he discovered an affinity for jazz music and began applying that to his violin and piano studies. At age 8, he began percussion lessons, eventually becoming a percussionist with the Smallwood Drive Elementary School band. He is now a percussionist with the Amherst Middle School Band.

In addition to Graser's performance, the Children's Concert is an educational event, according to ASO general manager Joan Fishburn.

"We'll be ending with 'The Polar Express,' and we invite all of the children to sit on stage," she said. "It gives them a sense of what it feels like to be in an orchestra."

The ASO did the same thing at the children's concert with "The Sound of Music" last year to rave reviews, Fishburn said.

"The response was fabulous," she said.

Also, for the younger members of the ASO's audience, there will be the Instrumental Petting Zoo, courtesy of McClellan Music House.

"It gives the children a chance to play or try out instruments," Fishburn said. "It's what school teachers would love to do but can't necessarily, so we offer that opportunity."

The Instrumental Petting Zoo will be held at 3:15 p.m. at the middle school. The Children's Concert will be held at 4:30 p.m. At 6:15 p.m. the preconcert event will be held, featuring two piano students from Denton, Cottier and Daniels, which will also be providing a Steinway piano for the performances. The concert will start at 7 p.m.

All of the events and concerts are free to the public, but freewill donations are always accepted.

As always, a complimentary shuttle bus will be operating for those who want to park in the Amherst Senior High School parking lot. The shuttle will run, beginning at 5:45 p.m., from the Berryman Drive entrance at the school.

For more information on the concert or the orchestra, e-mail ASOrch46@aol.com, visit www.amherstsymphony.com or call 633-4606.