Boston Conservatory orchestra students

Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was originally written as the score for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra (double string quartet, bass, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and piano) for a ballet commissioned by Martha Graham and premiered in 1944 at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Copland received the Pulitzer Prize for Music for the work. Copland originally called the piece Ballet for Martha, but shortly before the premiere Graham suggested the title Appalachian Spring, a phrase from the Hart Crane poem The Dance. The word ‘spring’ in the poem actually refers to a water source,
not the season. In 1945 Copland arranged the ballet score as an orchestral suite, and further expanded it in 1954 at the request of Eugene Ormandy.

Conducted by Russell Ger with an insightful lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Seitz, the evening will include scenes from the movie The Heiress, for which Aaron Copland won an Oscar.

Russell Ger, a native of Australia, holds degrees from the University of new South Wales and the Boston Conservatory. Active as a conductor in Australia and the United States, Mr. Ger can be found both on the concert stage as well as conducting opera. He recently joined
violinist Itzhak Perlman on a concert tour of Jewish liturgical music, and is an advocate for new music, often collaborating with contemporary composers.

Elizabeth Seitz, a Ph.D in Musicology from Boston University and faculty member at Boston Conservatory, she teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses in musicology. Her specialties are turn-of-the-century German Post-Romanticism and Impressionism. In addition to lecturing at Rockport Music, she is principal guest lecturer for the Boston Lyric Opera and frequently lectures at the New York Philharmonic, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Boston Symphony.