(November 12, 2015)

Centenary Youth Orchestra opens 2nd annual concert season

The Centenary Youth Orchestra in rehearsal.

SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary Youth Orchestra under the direction of Associate Professor of Music Todd Gabriel presents the opening concert of its second season on Sunday, November 15 at 3 p.m. in the College's Anderson Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.

Centenary alumna Cara Lamb '13 will join the 40-member Youth Orchestra as a soloist for Mozart's Piano Concert No. 24 in c minor, one of the composer's most profound works. The concert will also include the fanciful Don Quixote Suite by Telemann and the Happy Slaves Overture by 19th century composer Arriaga, who became known as "the Spanish Mozart" after his death.

Lamb is originally from Dallas, Texas but has made Shreveport home since graduating from Centenary. During her college career, she was the Centenary College Choir accompanist, performed three solo recitals, and won two concerto competitions playing Mozart's piano concerto No.24 and Rachmaninoff's piano concerto No.2.

Orchestra director Gabriel is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City and a 40-year veteran orchestral violist with stints at the Alabama, Phoenix, and Queensland Symphony Orchestras in addition to the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with youth orchestras in Alabama and Arizona and is the Hurley School of Music Orchestra Director at Centenary.

The Youth Orchestra enjoyed a successful inaugural season in 2014-2015 with concerts featuring Shreveport natives Marcus Rose, viola, and John-Henry Crawford, cello. Crawford recently was one of 25 cellists to advance to the official first round of the prestigious 2015 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow.