Swampscott High To Host North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra Winter Concert

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — The North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra will present its Winter Concert on Sunday, February 22, at 3 p.m. at Swampscott High School.

Music Director Robert Lehmann will conduct the program, which features works by Verdi, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.

The concert program includes Verdi’s Overture to Nabucco, Mozart's Oboe Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2.

Amanda Hardy, principal oboe of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, will be the featured soloist for the Mozart piece.

"Besides her role with the Portland Symphony, she frequently performs with the Boston Symphony," Lehmann said of Hardy. "She wonderfully performs Mozart’s only oboe concerto, and the master composer Mozart makes the most of the oboe’s beautiful, plaintive tone as well as its incredible agility.”

Lehmann said of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2: "Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 was nicknamed the "Little Russian" in part due to the various quotes of Ukrainian folk songs that appear throughout the work.

"That region was often referred to as ‘Little Russia’. This term was considered derogatory by the Ukrainians, who did not see themselves as either a small, nor a dependent part of Russia."

The North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra has adopted the nickname ‘Ukrainian’ for its performance of this symphony. Lehmann described the piece as "one of Tchaikovsky’s most ebullient and lighthearted symphonic works."

Tickets for the concert are available online at here or at the door. Admission is $35 for adults and $30 for seniors and students.

Children 12 and under can attend for free.

The North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1948, is in its 77th season.

The orchestra develops and trains young musicians and performs a range of symphonic and Pops repertoire.

Programs are funded in part by a grant from the Swampscott Cultural Council, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.