The West Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s spring classical concert will feature ‘Contrasting Styles – Music from Italy and America.’

Submitted

On Sunday, April 7, the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra will present its annual spring Classical Concert. The featured performer will be guitarist Chris Ladd, faculty member of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and Chair of the Guitar and Harp Program. He will be performing the lovely Guitar Concerto No. 1 by Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The concert will open with the final march from the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi.

The second half calls attention to music by Black American composer James P. Johnson. The father of stride piano, as he was known, and also the writer of the song “The Charleston,” Johnson wrote “Harlem Symphony” in 1932. The 1920s and 1930s were years when America, especially in New York City, was bursting forth with two different genres of music – jazz and musical theater, and Johnson made his mark in both.

The concert takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 7, at Northwest Catholic High School. General seating is $20, seniors and students are $15 and children under 12 are free.

Tickets can be purchased online at whso.org, by phone at 860-521-4362, or in the lobby on concert day. Doors open at 2:30 p.m.

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