Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra to Present MUSICAL SUPER HEROES At War Memorial Hall

​Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra will present a family- focused concert, Musical Super Heroes at War Memorial Hall in Newton, MA at 3pm on Sunday, January 26th. Conductor Emerita Gisèle Ben-Dor will lead Pro Arte through an adventure of music and storytelling that will thrill audiences of all ages. 

Audiences will hear The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant, the tale of a little pachyderm's journey from orphan to king, accompanied at every turn by Francis Poulenc's picturesque music. 

Eleven-year-old cellist Sophia Hernandez-Williams will be the soloist as Pro Arte performs in the irrepressible finale of Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1. She will be the youngest junior (17 and under) semi-finalist in the 28th Annual Sphinx Competition next month.  This prestigious national competition for string musicians in the Black and Latino communities transforms lives by celebrating artistic talent, providing career advancement opportunities, and addressing systemic obstacles for those musicians.

Sensemayá, by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, a spellbinding depiction of an Afro-Caribbean ceremony in which a ritualist must subdue a snake, will take concertgoers on a fascinating journey into a new world.

The finale will be the riotous Toy Symphony, attributed to Leopold Mozart, in which toys become playful instruments such as a rattle, a triangle, and a cuckoo whistle, all trying to steal the spotlight.

The characters in both Babar and Sensemayá will be brought to life with large-scale puppets created by Eric Bornstein and Behind the Mask Studio of Somerville.

Gisèle Ben-Dor has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “a ferocious talent,” and has conducted a number of the world's leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony.  She has been honored as “A Great Immigrant and a Great American”  by the Carnegie Foundation, and in addition to her role with Pro Arte, she is Conductor Laureate of the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Sofia Hernandez-Williams, is from Worcester, MA , and a cello student of Timothy Terranella at Worcester's Joy of Music Program, where she is the principal cello in the Youth Orchestra. When she's not playing her cello, Sofia can be found doing math, gardening, writing a story, practicing piano and voice, or tinkering around with her dad's violin-making tools.   Sofia is a 4th-year student at Boston's Project STEP and has previously performed with Worcester's Seven Hills Symphony and the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra.

Eric Bornstein founded Behind the Mask Studio in 1990, which specializes in mask theater programs, corporate event planning, arts education, custom made masks and costumes. His masks have appeared in Company One's Shockheaded Peter (nominated for Eliot Norton award/won IRNE award),  Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, and Boston Lyric Opera's Madama Butterfly, among many others. He currently teaches classes in making and performing masks and offers performances and residencies to schools throughout the state through Young Audiences of Massachusetts.

To post a comment, you must register and login.