A Springtime Concert With A Full Orchestra Features Classical, Favorites, Popular Broadway Hits And Music From The Movies.

From Baroque to Broadway! and new music too! Bach, Vivaldi, Verdi, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Andrew Lloyd Webber music from 'Show Boat' and 'The Sound of Music' featuring soprano Jeannine Otis in a new arrangement of 'Fenway Love' Georgette Ionesco flute, Dan Auerbach violin, bass Kofi Hayford. In commemoration of May 4th being International Star Wars Day the CSI Orchestra will perform the main theme to Star Wars side by side with the Richmond County Orchestra (RCO).

FREE for Students and Children. Tickets $15 in advance $20 at door. Purchase tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4204055
The RCO will be conducted by Maestro Alan Aurelia Visit here for more about the concert.

The sponsors of Concerto di Primavera are St Johns University and the Italian Cultural Center. This program is made possible in part through public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYS Council on the Arts, Northfield Bank, Dragon Kim Karate USA, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo and Con Edison.

Founded in 1998, under the direction of Maestro Alan Aurelia, The Richmond County Orchestra continues its effort to enhance the musical and cultural life of Staten Island and strives to inspire a love of music through a presentation of the classical repertoire and programming that encourages interaction with audience members. The orchestra offers live performances in the three council districts of Staten Island, presenting works of living composers as well as music from the past, providing its listeners with an opportunity to explore a new artistic language. In addition, the RCO offers educational innovations designed to capture the interest of young students who want to pursue a career in music. Musicians from the RCO have gone into high schools and coached students in after-school programs which have culminated in Side-By-Side concerts with the students and the Orchestra. The popularity of the RCO has grown so much over the years that they have been called upon to perform in various venues throughout the tristate area, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Natural History, Fairfield University, Washington Square Park, Asbury Park and more. Tickets to all Richmond County Orchestra concerts are free for students and children.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

Dan Auerbach, Violinist

Dan Auerbach has appeared as concerto soloist with festival orchestras in the United States, Canada and Israel. As a chamber musician, Auerbach has collaborated with members of the Vermeer Quartet and Juilliard Quartet, the New York Philharmonic, and other leading ensembles. His recordings on the Pitch Label include The American Festival of Microtonal Music: Classic, Chamber, and Ideas & Early. Also a specialist in klezmer and World Music, he released a CD with the David Glukh Klezmer Ensemble, Live! from New York, that was described as "phenomenal". Most recently, he has released a CD "The Devil's Trill" on MSR Classics with pianist Joshua Pierce. Dr. Auerbach has taught at the Juilliard Pre-College, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and has worked with Roberta Guaspari and the Op.118 Harlem School of Music. During the summer he teaches at Blue Lake Summer Arts Festival. Dr. Auerbach currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, where he teaches violin, viola, chamber music and conducts the CSI Orchestra. His mentors include Dorothy DeLay, Felix Galimir, Harvey Shapiro, Lewis Kaplan and Arnold Steinhardt.

Georgette Ionesco, Flutist

The President of the Staten Island Conservatory of Music Georgette Ionesco received her MM degree from the University of Music in Bucharest, Romania. Her specialty is solo and orchestra. She had the opportunity to participate at the International Summer Competition for Orchestra and Conducting, at the Music Conservatory in Vienna, Austria. Mrs. Ionesco participated at the International Competition for Wind Instruments in Markneukirchen, Germany and received a Mention Award. She received many National Awards in her native Romania. She was a member of the Romanian Philharmonic, Romanian Radio-Television Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Israeli Philharmonic. She had the wonderful chance to work with famous conductors such as: Sergio Celibidache, Kurt Mazur, Stanley Sperber and Sydney Harth. In the United States, she was a member of different groups and orchestras and played concerts throughout the New York area. Georgette is an adjunct professor at Wagner College and President and CEO of Pro Musica Corporation. With Pro Musica, Mrs. Ionesco organized and also played numerous cultural-educational concerts especially on Staten Island. For her involvement in the cultural development of the community, Mrs. Ionesco was awarded by Senator Vincent Gentile.

Kofi Hayford, Bass

Kofi Hayford, a Ghanaian-American bass, described as possessing an "impressive" (Brooklyn Discovery) "sonorous," (Meet Me at the Opera) and "stentorian bass voice" (National Herald) also produces a distinct sound - easily identified for its unique timbre. He is swiftly building his reputation as an accomplished young bass by bringing an 'exciting' and 'stunning' sound to the stage. Kofi's major opera roles have included: La Roche in Strauss' Capriccio, Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Mephistopheles in Faust, Rodolfo in La Sonnambula, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sparafucile and Monterone in Rigoletto, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and Baldassare in La Favorita. Kofi sang the inaugural performance of the Greek Opera Olympic Flame singing the role of the titan Prometheus at Lincoln Center - later receiving an award from UNESCO for this performance. Other operatic roles and oratorio engagements include: The Monk and The Grand Inquisitor in Verdi's Don Carlo; The Bonze in Madama Butterfly; Bass Soloist in Mozart's Requiem and Rossini's Stabat Mater; Count Monterone and from Verdi's Rigoletto; Angelotti and Sacristan in Puccini's Tosca; Masetto in Don Giovanni, the Doctor and Baron Douphol in Verdi's La Traviata; Balthazar in Amahl & The Night Visitors. The 2018 1st Place Winner of the Tchaikovsky Music Competition in Albany, a 2007 Songfest Young Artist, and 2017 NJ State Opera Guild Competition Finalist, Kofi received his Bachelor's in Vocal

Performance from SUNY Buffalo. Since graduating, Kofi has sung with many opera companies and orchestras in the East Region

Jeannine Otis, Soprano

Jeannine Otis (Jahneen) a graduate of Wellesley College with a BA with honors and Emerson College with an MA with honors had her jazz roots spring from her family history. Her cousins the late Elaine Jones, Thad Jones and Hank Jones have all served as a source of inspiration in her work. She has worked for many years as an educational consultant for arts programming including: the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Staten Island Museum, SUNDOG Theater, ENACT, The Creative Arts Team at NYU, Marymount College, in Japan, Austria and beyond.

As a performer Jeannine/Jahneen is featured on many recordings. Her jazz recordings as a featured artist include being featured on REED SEED with the late Grover Washington, Webster Lewis formally of the New England Conservatory's Post Pop Space Bebop Orchestra, Stanton Davis, and MAGIG SONGS with Finnish Composer Laureate, Heilkki Sarmanto and the Helsinki Philharmonic, which is currently being listened to all over the world.

As music director, she continues to work on the lower east side with Saint Marks Church in the Bowery, THEATERWORKS, USA, with FREEDOM TRAIN, a piece about Harriet Tubman that travelled the country.