Our Nextgen Students are Closing out the Season with a Bang!

This Sunday, our three Nextgen ensembles – Crescendo, Overture, and Allegretto – will be performing their final concert of the 2025-2026 Season at the F&M Barshinger Center. Let’s take a look at what our student musicians and their directors have been working on this Spring, with a special program note from Overture Director Scott Kaliszak.

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Crescendo – 1:00pm

The Crescendo String Orchestra is a youth string ensemble for students in grades four through eight. This non-auditioned ensemble is designed to explore the advancing techniques of string playing. Directed by Mr. Francis Caravella and Mr. Robert Shaubach.

Toreador Song, Georges Bizet – This familiar melody from Bizet’s opera Carmen is a spirited march, a toast to the toreadors meant to highlight the drama and excitement of the bullfighting ring. As one of the most recognizable operatic arias, it is frequently arranged for various instruments, in this case, strings. Meant to be performed with a confident, triumphant flair, this dramatic tune has been plucked from score books and used to underscore dramatic moments in film, advertisements, and even a popular video game series.

Ashokan Farewell, Jay Ungar – Taking a sharp left turn from Carmen, this folk tune will surely be familiar to those who have seen the 1990 Ken Burns documentary series The Civil War. Originally composed in 1982, Ashokan Farewell is in the style of a Scottish lament, and is described by the composer as coming out of “a sense of loss and longing” after the annual Ashokan Music & Dance Camps ended for the year. This piece served for many years as the goodnight/farewell waltz for the Camp run by Ungar and his wife Molly Mason. A fitting piece for the concert that closes out this Nextgen series, with solos from Molto Crescendo members Charlotte Haldeman and Lukas Nowak.

Wired, Lauren Bernofsky – A unique piece from a long-time arranger, Wired blends rock elements within a concert music score. Layers of driving eighth and sixteenth notes provide a foundation and subdivided metronome for an infectious groove in the lower strings. This piece is a learning exercise for players and possibly an ear training exercise for the audience – advanced listeners take note of the Dorian mode from E to E. Bernofsky is known for her educationally oriented pieces that teach music concepts while being fun to perform. Wired was named by Bernofsky's 11 year old son and self-described “cool consultant.”

Dramatic Essay, Mark Williams – This remarkably simple, yet sophisticated sounding piece from Mark Williams allows for the development of many expressive possibilities in young players. Syncopation and spicatto (style of staccato playing on stringed instruments involving bouncing the bow on the strings) are explored and developed in a context of changing moods. In fact, Dramatic Essay is a study in contrasts: the opening section is slow and requires strong intonation through suspensions and explores both loud and quiet dynamics.

Over the Sea to Skye, Annie MacLeod – Also known as The Skye Boat Song, this gentle tune conjures the image indicated in the title – of a rowboat passing over water on a bright and buoyant journey. The story behind this tune follows Miss Annie MacLeod on a trip to the isle of Skye on a boat rowed over the Loch Courisk. At some point on the journey, the rowers began singing the Gaelic rowing song “Cuchag nan Craobh” (The Cuckoo in the Grove.) MacLeod held on to pieces of this melody and fashioned them into the piece we’ll hear on this concert.

Mummers, John Merle – This short and sweet work of just under 2 minutes was originally written for solo string bass and piano, then expanded for string ensemble. It is often referenced as an educational tool for string players as they build their performance techniques and confidence. Despite (or perhaps due to) its educational nature, it is a fun and jaunty dance tune, sometimes bearing the subtitle “Danse grotesque” for its playfulness and exaggerated articulation.

Fire Ant Brigade, Francis J. Caravella world premier – It is rare that we have a composer in person to announce and conduct his own piece, so we’ll let him share with you the story!

For Good, Stephen Schwartz – With Stephen Schwartz’s iconic Wicked gracing the silver screen in two parts, we’re delighted to close Crescendo’s Spring Concert with this arrangement of For Good. Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, this 2003 musical takes an alternate look at the Land of Oz from the point of view of the Wizard of Oz principal antagonist, the Wicked Witch of the West. Coming right before the musical’s Finale number, For Good is the culmination of the two main characters' stories, Elphaba (The Wicked Witch) and Glinda (The Good Witch), as they reflect on what they have learned from one another through the twists and turns of their unlikely friendship.

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Allegretto –  5:00pm

Allegretto is Nextgen's premiere ensemble, an elite chamber orchestra demanding the utmost musicianship and professionalism of students in a youth orchestra setting. Students in this ensemble receive guidance and instruction to perform standard repertoire and newly composed music at the highest level. Directed by Dr. Brian Norcross and Mr. Francis Caravella.

Marriage of Figaro – Overture, W. A. Mozart – We open this concert with another iconic opera tune. Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro is considered one of the greatest operas ever written, and it opens with this fantastic overture that is a cornerstone of the repertoire. This comedic opera follows the story of servants Figaro and Susanna who, through their love for one another, foil the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna on her and Figaro’s wedding night. This overture is one the audience will surely recognize, as it is often played independently as a concert piece and has also been featured outside of the concert hall to punctuate moments in film, television, and advertisement.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Francis J. Caravella world premier – Here, we have another opportunity to hear directly from the composer! What we can tell you is that Mr. Caravella has composed a truly unique and lovely work based on Shakespeare’s beloved comedic play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so prepare for whimsy, drama, and a buffet of musical surprises!

Symphony No. 3 in D Major, D. 200, Franz Schubert – Schubert’s Third Symphony was written in 1815 between May 24 and June 19, a few months after his 18^th birthday. Like his other early symphonies, this one was sadly not published during Schubert’s lifetime. The piece opens with a broad, sweeping introduction that calls upon the form of the French overture – first slow and dramatic, then more lyrical. The first movement features a charming conversation between clarinet and syncopated strings. The second movement appropriately an Allegretto, is full of grace and humor with a tune that plays upon the characteristic of a peasant’s dance. We then move to a high-spirited Minuet with accented up-beats, and finish with a remarkable, bold Presto, full of dynamic contrast and stirring harmonic progressions.

Overture –

Overture is a full symphonic orchestra for students in grades eight through twelve. Through demanding music and high-quality instruction, students will develop advanced abilities on their instruments, as well as an understanding of how to perform in a full orchestra setting. Directed by Mr. Scott Kaliszak and Mr. Anthony Scheuerman.

Capriccio Italien, Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky – We love a composer abroad! This 15-minute fantasy for orchestra was inspired by a trip Tchaikovsky took to Rome with his brother Modest. There, Tchaikovsky took in the art of Raphael, calling him a “Mozart of painting.” Tchaikovsky was inspired by the bustle of the Roman streets, the architecture and art of this ancient city. Conductor JoAnn Falletta says of the piece “We are hearing a foreigners’ views of Italy. [...] Capriccio Italien has great power even though it’s practically a pops piece. Tchaikovsky knows what the instruments can do in a virtuoso way. He brings them to their limit in the most thrilling fashion. He has a gift for mixing families of instruments just right, like cantabile strings along with mighty brass. I hear the ballet element in everything Tchaikovsky writes, in his sense of rhythm. You can practically dance to [this score]!”

Aurora Rising, Ralph Lehman – Ralph Lehman was a founding member of the Allegro Orchestra Lancaster.  As a bassoonist and composer, he had a profound impact on the musicians of this organization as well as the greater Lancaster community.  He served as a band director in the Warwick School District, and also contributed greatly to the music program of Lancaster Catholic High School.  He performed for many years as bassoonist in the Harrisburg Symphony, and for almost 35 years with various ensembles at Franklin & Marshall College.  His compositional contributions to the Allegro Orchestra Lancaster and F&M are immense, with over 20 orchestral works and 8 works for wind ensemble.  He was loved and befriended by the music students at F&M.  He was a bassoonist, clarinetist, composer, and most important, a friend. Composed in 2016, Aurora Rising was premiered in 2017 by the Allegro Orchestra.

Symphonic Suite from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Howard Shore – Howard Shore’s influence goes beyond the iconic themes from films such as the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and many others. (His score-orgaphy includes such staples of the late-90s early 2000s cinematic canon as The Silence of the Lambs, Mrs. Doubtfire, Philadelphia, Seven, That Thing You Do!, Gangs of New York, and The Departed. He was also the original musical director for Saturday Night Live, having met and befriended a young Lorne Michaels at summer camp when the two were around the age of some of our own Nextgen students.) He discovered his interest and love of music at an early age, deciding he wanted to pursue music as a career when he was 14 years old.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the middle installment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, without which the fantasy genre enjoyed by many would not exist. The story follows an unlikely hero, a hobbit named Frodo Baggins, entrusted with stewardship and destruction of a dangerously powerful ring. The scores of Lord of the Rings became some of the most successful film scores ever written and one (or three) of Shore’s largest successes, and have been repeatedly and continually voted as the best film score(s) in history.

Symphony No. 5 – Finale, Dmitri Shostakovich

With thanks to Scott Kaliszak:

Tonight, we perform the 4th movement of Dimitri Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony. This symphony was premiered in a time of turmoil for Shostakovich as he was under immense scrutiny from the Soviet Union and Stalin himself. After a failed opera premiere that “Corrupted the Soviet Spirit”, Shostakovich lived in complete fear. He slept outside his own house to prevent his family from seeing him taken away by the secret police, he canceled the premiere of his 4th Symphony, and he subtitled his 5th Symphony “A Soviet Artist's Response to Just Criticism”, all in hopes of surviving while trying to make a living.

To meet the Soviet Standards of Art, Shostakovich wrote his 5th symphony in the same fashion as Beethoven’s 5th symphony, going from “Darkness to Light” or “Minor to Major”. He wrote with lyricism and added heroic melodies and driving marches to give the impression that this work was pro Soviet Union, but the underlying context was anything but.

After the conclusion of the 3rd movement, which had the Russian population in tears due to its beauty and reflective nature, Shostakovich begins his 4th movements with a triumphant and forceful fanfare, leading into a string of marches.

These marches continue on, pushing the orchestra to its limits as the tempo continues to increase, just as the civilians were pushed to their limits under Soviet Rule. The run of marches then comes to a screeching halt, as if Shostakovich was saying “ENOUGH!”.

We then move into a calm moment of silent reflection. Shostakovich uses a melody from a previous composition based on a poem entitled “Rebirth”. You hear this melody in the violins and it represents peeling away the outer layer to reveal the true agony, suffering and pain beneath the tough exterior of the Russian citizens.

The calmness is broken by percussion, beginning the slow slog of a march. It is not as heroic or driving as the opening marches, but heavy and forced. This is reminiscent of parts of the opera Boris Goodnov, in which the characters of the opera are forced to bow down to the Russian Emperor, just as the Soviet population is forced to submit to the Soviet government.

We end the symphony with a bit of a misunderstanding. There was a misprint in the original score that requested the quarter note to be 188. However, it was later revealed that Shostakovich asked for the 8th note (half of a quarter note) to equal 188. This VASTLY changes the finale from one of triumph and resolve to one of exhaustion as the trumpets wail on their high notes and the orchestra has been beaten into submission.

The symphony was a massive success, and Shostakovich bought himself more time. It was later revealed the underlying context was very much anti Soviet Union rule, but for the time being, the audience had music and art they could connect and relate with on all levels. On behalf of the Next Gen orchestra, I hope you enjoy the magnificence of this Shostakovich Symphony.

We hope you enjoy all that our Nextgen students have to present this Sunday, May 3, and we look forward to their return in the fall for more great music! Links to register for Crescendo, our new wind ensemble, Avanti, and Overture and Allegretto are available below:

Overture & Allegretto Registration 2026-2027

Crescendo Strings Registration 2026-2027

Avanti Winds Registration 2026-2027