RSO 2025-2026 Season Kicks Off

By Jacqui Drechsler, RSO Board Member

The Rockland Symphony Orchestra is pleased to invite audiences to their first concert of the 2025-2026 season. The orchestra will present a potpourri of English garden infused classical delights that were written specifically for string orchestra.

Conductor and Music Director Nicole Peragine conducts this strings only concert – starting the program with Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6 – based on the English oratorio style, as the Concerto were meant to be performed during intervals to attract audiences. They were premiered in “subscription series concerts” for royalty, family, friends and patrons. These pieces were considered diverse and were influenced by musical forms from all over Europe. Although Handel was from Germany,  he spent much time in England and wrote the Fireworks music and many other celebratory pieces in homage to his time spent in England.

Next on the program is Air and Dance by Delius. This work was considered to be a “wartime work”, as it was penned in 1915 and premiered at a private concert in Lady Cunard’s home in London with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting. The first public concert was at Aeolian Hall in 1929 in London again with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting. According to John France of “The Land of the Lost Comment”, “It is a dreamy tune that meanders to the livelier dance…near the end it touches back to the opening and closes on a positive note.” 

The third selection on the program is by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was born in 1875 to a white mother and a black father from Sierra. He showed exceptional musical talent from the start, which was fully nurtured by his parents. This piece written in 1903 has four short movements. According to a description by Alfred Music:   ”A perfect pairing with true English feel and diversity…infused with romantic sentimentality with coloristic exploration of the modern string orchestra.” Coleridge-Taylor composed many choral pieces and band music, and was invited to meet Theodore Roosevelt at the White House, as well as conducting his own compositions with the U.S. Marine Band. 

The fourth piece is Romance for String Orchestra by Gerald Finzi whose roots were Italian, German and Jewish. Born in 1901, Finzi died young at only 55 so there is a relatively small output of compositions. According to Jane Jones of Classical.com, he disliked London city life and settled in Wiltshire, devoting himself to composing and apple growing, of which he was very successful. Finzi managed to save a number of rare English apple varieties from extinction! This Romance, written in 1928, expressed the grief he felt from the loss of his father, brothers and music teacher. Even so,  this Romance piece is undeniably infused with Finzi’s expression of love for the English countryside.

Gustav Holst’s St Paul Suite takes its name from St Paul’s Girls School in Hammersmith, London where Holst served as the school’s “music master” from 1905-1934. Similar to Antonio Vivaldi, Holst wrote many pieces for the schools’ students to perform. Having four movements, it opens with a fast paced gig, followed by a slow movement, continuing with an Intermezzo originally titled “Dance”. Using a familiar Mozart technique, the last movement Allegro starts with a violin solo, adding in a viola solo and continuing to add until there is a quartet of soloists. The musical material comes from two different folk songs, one of which is Greensleeves, which are played together at the end of the movement.

The RSO hopes readers can come to their opening season concert, where they are sure to be transported to an English Garden full of delights! For ticket information go to rocklandsymphony.org. Tickets will also be sold at the door (cash or check only): General Admission  $35, Seniors  $25, Students (12-21) $15, Children under 12 Free! Please Save the date for RSO’s ever-populare Children’s concert on March 8, 2026 at 4:00 P.M. 

Except where noted, information on composers and pieces sourced from Wikipedia.