Monday, Nov 26, 2012
Concert honors pianist Phyllis Alpert Lehrer's 40 years at Westminster.
The Westminster Community Orchestra, conducted by Ruth Ochs, will present a concert entitled “Celebrate!” on Sunday, December 2 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the Princeton University campus.
The concert will celebrate Phyllis Alpert Lehrer’s 40 years as a member of the piano faculty at Westminster Choir College, and she will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor. Additionally, the orchestra will perform Celebration by Olga Gorelli and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major.
Ms. Lehrer is professor of piano and director of graduate piano pedagogy at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. A founding member of the International Society for the Study of Tension in Performance, she contributes regularly to the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and European Piano Teachers Association. She is known internationally as a performer, teacher, clinician, author and adjudicator. She has enjoyed an active concert career as a soloist and collaborative artist in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, Sweden, Russia, the Republic of Georgia and El Salvador. Her performances have met with much critical acclaim. She was recently selected as the New Jersey Music Teachers Association’s Teacher of the Year. Ms. Lehrer holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree in piano from the Juilliard School of Music.
Celebrating its 27th season, the Westminster Community Orchestra presents concerts that showcase the artistry, commitment and passion of a true community ensemble. Its popular programs are noted for their diverse repertoire and widespread appeal. Members are professional and gifted amateur musicians from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They come from all walks of life but share a common goal: the desire to make wonderful music for themselves and their community.
Ruth Ochs, in her eighth season as conductor and music director of the Westminster Community Orchestra, has led the orchestra in performances of major orchestral and choral-orchestral works, including symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. Under her leadership the orchestra continues to feature choral ensembles and soloists from the Westminster Conservatory and collaborate with Westminster Choir College students. She is also the conductor of the Princeton Charter School/Westminster Conservatory Youth Orchestra and in her 11th season as the conductor of the Princeton University Sinfonia. Ms. Ochs has guest conducted many ensembles, including the Princeton University Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and faculty ensembles at the Westminster Conservatory of Music. Prior to her work in New Jersey, she was music director of the University Orchestra at the University of Texas and the Austin Philharmonic, and she conducted the top ensembles of the UT School of Music’s acclaimed String Project. Ms. Ochs holds degrees in music and orchestral conducting from Harvard University and the University of Texas at Austin, and she is completing her Ph.D. in Musicology at Princeton University with a dissertation on 20th-century Polish music.
Admission for this performance is $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. For tickets call 609-258-9220 or order online at www.princeton.edu/utickets.
