Hudson Festival Orchestra to Present HUDSON IN CONCERT This Weekend

This week, Eric Fraser, a Boston native now living in Claverack, is putting the final touches on his original composition, Expanded Flow.  It is multi-cultural music written for African, Indian and Western instruments and even includes some Hip Hop – a mouthful to say and even more challenging to create - especially when the piece includes scoring for a 50-piece orchestra as well as Kora, Mbira, Tabla, Sitar and Bansuri.  Orchestral scoring came from the pen of Adriana Tampasis.

Fraser's work is just one of the varied pieces that is part of the program Hudson in Concert taking place under a tent at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park on Saturday, July 15th beginning at 5PM.  It is produced by the Hudson Festival Orchestra and is free to all. 

The event is the brain child of Gwen Gould, conductor and founder of the Hudson Festival Orchestra (HFO), who has used this platform since 2019 to bring our diverse community together through music. In fact, Gould has been dedicated to diversity and civil rights her whole professional life, since attending the March on Washington in 1963.   This is the second year that a variety of local, regional and far-flung musicians will participate in Hudson in Concert.  The recently formed Hudson Ferry Co. will be playing last year's concert aboard all their tours for the coming week. It's a preview of this year's offering.

And, 'variety' is exactly the right word.  In addition to Fraser's composition, the evening will include a Ukrainian song, an old favorite written by Leroy Anderson and a mainstay of Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops, an original jazz composition from Hudson pianist and composer, Armen Donelian, and, from composer Joan Tower, a performance of Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman #1, which was played for the Vice President – just the day before her inauguration.

Other performances include a Broadway tap dancer, tango dancing by world champion Sydney Grant and partner Ninah Beliavsky, the Columbia County Youth Theater, a medley of Sousa marches, Celtic and international folk music by The Caelo Trio, African dance/drums by the Kuumba Dance & Drum Academy, Hudson's own Dust Bowl Faeries and an original composition by Kinan Azmeh, a clarinetist born in Syria.  His piece won a Grammy.

“We invite everyone to bring a picnic down to the waterfront and take advantage of this wonderful multi-cultural evening,” Gould said.  “It's a community celebration that we hope will grow and become a yearly event that everyone can look forward to.”

Hudson in Concert takes place this coming Saturday, July 15th.  Opening acts begin at 5PM. The orchestra assembles under the tent with Gwen Gould conducting at 7PM.  For a complete list of performances, go to www.HudsonFestivalOrchestra.org.  The HFO is a 501c3.  Donations in support of the evening are welcome and can be made on the website.   

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