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From the Executive
Directors... |
 “In
1980, we felt it
was time to do something more – to bring young music students to
the area to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC
and learn from its musicians. So we purchased, restored and
opened our music center that very summer,”
say
Bert Phillips and Toby Blumenthal, the Executive Directors of the
Luzerne Music Center.
“In this, our 25th
Anniversary Year, we pay tribute to our Alumni Stars
the
Philadelphia Orchestra,
New York City Ballet,
and the
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
(SPAC) as well as their continued
collaboration with us in making the Luzerne Music Center
experience unforgettable for students and faculty alike".
Luzerne Music
Center Co-Founder and cellist Bert Phillips first became
familiar with this region in the early 1960’s,
 when he was sent
to Saratoga Springs as part of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s
musicians’ committee, under Conductor Eugene Ormandy, to
evaluate the area as a potential summer residence.
At the very same time, the late Newman “Pete” Wait Jr. was
leading local feasibility committee planning for the Saratoga
Performing Arts Center (SPAC).
By 1966, SPAC became a reality, as did the Philadelphia
Orchestra’s choice to make SPAC its summer residence.
Mr. Phillips purchased a summer home in Lake Luzerne in 1974.
Before long, he and his colleagues began performing
chamber
music in Lake Luzerne.
In 1980, word of a vacant camp
on the
lake piqued Mr. Phillips’ interest, and that of his wife,
Toby
Blumenthal.
They made their vision into reality.
Every summer since 1980, Bert, Toby and their colleagues have
offered LMC students rare opportunities to learn from some of
the world’s finest musicians face-to-face on campus, in master
classes, concerts and rehearsals, and at SPAC performances.
In 2005, LMC students met SPAC President and Executive
Director Marsha White, Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor Charles
Dutoit and many Philadelphia Orchestra members, as well as
renowned soloists Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax and Van Cliburn,
building firm foundations for future careers in, and
appreciation of, live classical music.
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Among Our 25th
Anniversary
Activities in 2005!
TRIBUTE TO “THE RED VIOLIN”
And
John Corigliano’s
Chaconne for Violin & Orchestra |
The Luzerne Music Center presented a special 25th
Anniversary event on August 14th dedicated to one of the world’s
most legendary instruments, the 1720 Red “Mendelssohn”
Stradivarius violin, and its owner Luzerne Alumna
Star Elizabeth Pitcairn, a widely
recognized soloist and instructor at the University of Southern
California and the Coburn School of Music.
Ms. Pitcairn
arrived
just three days prior to
her performance to give lecture
demonstrations and to engage in very intensive rehearsals with
the student orchestra.
Charles Peltz,
Artistic
 Director of the Music Center’s Senior
Session and
Conductor of the 75-member Luzerne Music Center Symphony
Orchestra, raised the bar for his students, who had only two
weeks prior to Ms. Pitcairn’s arrival to prepare for their
special debut. What phenomenal results!!
Mr. Peltz
has years of experience in conducting youth orchestras and is
director of the internationally acclaimed Wind Ensembles at the
New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He
is the year-round conductor and artistic director of the
Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra in Glens Falls, NY, and is a
regular guest conductor of the Orquestra Nacional de
Colombia in Bogota where the press has said, “This
maestro is a fiesta for the eyes and ears.”
Concentrate and
keep your eyes on
the Conductor!
There you have it!
After three days of rehearsals, Ms. Pitcairn appeared as a
soloist in a free afternoon performance of John Corigliano’s
Chaconne for violin & Orchestra on campus with the Luzerne
Music Center Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, August 14th.
Mr. Peltz, Ms. Pitcairn and the Luzerne Music Center Symphony
Orchestra received a standing ovation from an audience of
over 500 people for their deeply moving performance.
They then concluded their concert with an encore of John
Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List,
dedicated to the Music Center and its founders. This
piece was so well delivered that it received yet another
standing ovation from those in attendance.
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The Philadelphia Orchestra Firebirds “PLAY”
The Luzerne Music Center |
Once every
season, the Philadelphia Orchestra “Firebirds” break out their
softball equipment, mount their batting order on their trusty
music stands (with clothes pins, no less), and take their
positions on the Luzerne Music Center ball field.
And, once
every year, the “Firebirds” thoroughly trounce the Luzerne Music
Center in a quick nine innings.
At least
until the magical year of 2005!!
This year, following a moving
viola choir rendition of The Star Spangled Banner played
by LMC faculty and students, the 2005 LMC Softball Team,
comprised of students, counselors and faculty, and lead by
“ringer” violist/pitcher
Laura Schlifer, recruited
from Bert Phillips’ hometown of La Crosse, Wisconsin, forced the
Philadelphia Orchestra “Firebirds” into overtime for the first
time in our 25-year history!
Our 16-to-16
tie was broken by the “Firebirds” only after several extra
breath-taking innings! (We let them win just in time to get them back to
SPAC!)
Any musical softball players
out there for 2006??!!!
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