Virtual concert
Mars Area High School freshman Gracyn Thatcher recently joined the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra in its performance of a virtual concert.
The concert, available on YouTube, features composer Michael Markowski’s “City Trees,” one of the selections from this year’s season, themed “The Elements.”
The orchestra was to perform on stage at New York City’s Carnegie Hall March 31. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the concert was canceled.
Despite their separation, orchestra members worked at home to video their individual parts, which were submitted to Markowski. Markowski compiled the clips for a complete performance.
To honor the title of the piece, orchestra members also submitted pictures of trees near their homes for the video.
Gracyn is the daughter of Stephen and Valerie Thatcher of Mars. She’s played the cello with the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra for three seasons. She also has played in a string quartet and attended the orchestra’s summer program in Chautauqua, N.Y.
The Young Peoples Orchestra is a full symphonic orchestra made up of mostly high school students from the Pittsburgh region, West Virginia and Ohio. The group usually rehearses Saturday afternoons at Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music.
For more information, visit the orchestra website.
