MCC Kicks Off “World of Music” with Lowell Chamber Orchestra

Middlesex Community College will kick off the college’s Spring 2022 “A World of Music” concert series with a live performance by the Lowell Chamber Orchestra (LCO), conducted by MCC faculty member Orlando Cela.

The LCO will present works from the Baroque Era, combined with later pieces inspired by this era. The Double Concerto for Recorder and Traverso by Georg Philipp Telemann and the Suite from “Castor et Pollux” by Jean-Philippe Rameau will be performed.

“The performance is a collection of pieces that reframe four- and five-hundred-year-old works into a modern lens,” Cela said. “The program revolves around a brand-new work by Dana Kaufman, commissioned by the LCO, called ‘Greyed Rainbow,’ inspired by the Pollock painting of the same name. The concert opens with Francis Poulenc’s ‘Suite Française,’ which brings back the music by Renaissance composer Claude Gervaise in a very unusual orchestration.”

There will be also a showcase of ancient and new instruments in Telemann’s Double Concerto for Recorder and Flute, with Aldo Abreu and Cela as soloists, according to Cela. A suite of Baroque dances from the opera ‘Castor et Pollux’ by Jean-Philippe Rameau in a new, modern combination of instruments, will close out the program.

The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 19 at MCC’s Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center in Lowell. Middlesex requires all audience members to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19 and wear masks at all times.

Other performances throughout the semester include MCC Music Faculty at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 11 in the Bedford Campus Concert Hall, the Dylan Jack Quartet at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 10 at MCC’s Academic Arts Center, and a Middlesex Student Recital at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, May 3 in Bedford.

All “World of Music” concerts are free and open to the public. For more information about MCC’s Spring 2022 concert series, visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/worldofmusic/ or contact Rodríguez-Peralta at peraltac@middlesex.mass.edu or 781-280-3923.

MCC’s Academic Arts Center is located at 240 Central Street in Lowell. With parking not available on site, the nearest public parking facility is the Early Garage on 135 Middlesex St. in Lowell. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/transportation/ for more information.

There is still time to register for MCC’s Spring 2022 semester, including the accelerated eight-week Mini-mester II starting on Monday, March 28. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434 for more information and to register for classes.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, MCC has been a proven leader in education for more than 50 years. Middlesex puts the student first. Meeting each learner where they are, MCC provides them with a safe, welcoming and engaging place to learn. Offering more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses – Middlesex features flexible course formats and a variety of award-winning student support services and resources. Student success starts at MCC!