Symphony's performance puts 'Earth' in focus
The Butler County Symphony Orchestra is preparing to present its second concert of the 62nd season. The theme for the season is "Images," and this concert is focused on "Earth."
The evening will open with "Finlandia," a symphonic poem by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius that elicits the national struggle of the people of Finland. Photographer Phil Norton will provide visual images for this piece.
Featured soloist is the orchestra's principal oboist Gary Purifoy, who will play Vaughan Williams' "Concerto for Oboe and Strings."
Purifoy joined the orchestra in 1982 as the English hornist. He played his first full season as second oboe/English horn in the 1983-84 season and became principal oboe in 1992. This is his 28th season with the symphony.
He grew up in Gibsonia, where his first music teacher was Virginia Netchi, from the symphony's flute section. He graduated from Richland High School and went on to receive a bachelor's in music education from Morehead State University and a master's in music from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
While in Wisconsin, he played principal oboe and English horn in the University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and played engagements with the Madison Symphony and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
He was a founding member of the Symphony Wind Quintet in 1989, performing many concerts at Slippery Rock University and throughout Butler County until 2008, and he taught oboe and bassoon at SRU from 2001 through 2007. He continues to teach oboe and bassoon students in his private studio.
He resides in Cranberry Township with his wife, Pat. They have two children, Greg, who is serving in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, and Sara, a sophomore at Gettysburg College.
The orchestra will also play Beethoven's "Symphony No. 6. op 68," also known as "Pastoral Symphony, Reflections on a Country Life."
<B>WHO: </B>Butler County Symphony Orchestra<B>WHAT</B>: "Earth" concert<B>WHEN: </B>7:30 p.m. Nov. 6<B>WHERE:</B> Butler Intermediate High School auditorium, 151 Fairground Hill Road<B>TICKETS:</B> for adults, $15 in advance or $18 at the door; student tickets are $5. Reserved seat tickets are available at the symphony office, 259 S. Main St.<B>INFORMATION: </B>724-283-1402 or www.butlersymphony.org.
