By Joel Frady

The sounds of classical and Latin American music will make their way to Ashe County this week with two

shows sponsored by the Ashe County Arts Council. The Appalachian State University Chamber Orchestra will take the stage of the Ashe Civic Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, to perform works by Berlioz and Beethoven, while the group Sol y Canto will perform at Family Central on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

ASU's Chamber Orchestra
Directed by James Allen Anderson, the Appalachian Chamber Orchestra will perform Hector Berlioz's Overture to 'Le Corsaire,' Op. 21, and follow that with a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, 'Eroica.'

Anderson said that "it's great music. This concert has an interesting 'hero' theme to it. The first piece is Berlioz [and is] loosely based on the idea of a pirate king. We juxtapose that piece with Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, which was originally written to honor Napoleon.

"It's a great performance that will feature music at a very high level," he said. "It's pairing a very familiar work with a less familiar work, so people will be able to get a different interpretation. I always feel like when you pair works together they highlight each other in unique ways."

Anderson, a Fleetwood resident who has been with Appalachian State for seven years, said that the orchestra is a student-faculty group that "represents some of our finest players.

"The way that we designed the chamber orchestra is to mimic a professional ensemble," he said. "We rehearse in 'block scheduling' where we'll hold two or three rehearsals in a row and then hold a concert. Usually we have no more than four or five rehearsals per concert, unlike the full orchestra that rehearses every week." He added that "the faculty sit in the principle positions and model to the students what it's like to be a leader in a professional orchestra. It's a high-level training group."

Jane Lonon, executive director of the Ashe County Arts Council, said that the chamber orchestra has performed in the county before and that "we were so thrilled with the quality of musicianship of the group, and they were so thrilled with the performance at the Civic Center, that we locked them in again."

In addition to performing the show on Saturday, the orchestra will perform the program on Sunday, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. at Rosen Concert Hall in Boone.

Tickets to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. performance at the Ashe Civic Center are $12 for adults and $5 for students. To find out more about the Appalachian Chamber Orchestra, click to www.music.appstate.edu/orchestra.

Sol y Canto
The music will continue on Tuesday when Sol y Canto, a Latin music group based in Cambridge, Mass., performs a free concert in the community room of Family Central in Jefferson.

Although the band comes in "all different sizes," according to lead singer and bongo player Rosi Amador, the concert on Tuesday will feature the trio of Amador, her husband Brian Amador and Asheville-based Latin percussionist Ozzie Orengo.

Amador said that the group has been around for 15 years and "specializes in performing music from all over Latin America, a combination of original compositions in all different Latin rhythms and also some fun, popular Latin music." She added that they don't restrict their music to one region of Latin America, instead hoping to "take audiences on a Latin American musical journey."

The show is intended to be educational for all ages, and Amador believes that both children and adults will enjoy their performance. All of the songs have been translated into English for audiences with themes ranging from peace and taking care of the environment to one song about bananas.

"It's meant to be educational," said Amador. "There's a lot of humor in our music as well, so no one leaves without feeling like they learned something and had a really good time.

"We love it and we feel that our mission is to celebrate Latin culture through its music," she continued. "We feel that we're Latin culture ambassadors. We feel that we, through our music, have found a way to bring North Americans and Latin Americans together and be able to tell stories about what is common in our lives."
In addition to the concert, which begins at 7 p.m., the event will feature a light meal of beans, rice and "all the fixin's" beforehand. Sol y Canto will also perform shows at Ashe County High School and two elementary schools - Blue Ridge and Mountain View - and will hold a workshop at Family Central at 4 p.m. on Tuesday for the Junior Appalachian Musicians.

To find out more about either concert, or how to purchase tickets, call the Ashe County Arts Council at (336) 846-2787 or click to www.ashearts.org. To find out more about Sol y Canto, click to www.solycanto.com.