The Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra is feeling the love in the air ahead of its Valentine’s Day performance.
The central Pennsylvania professional chamber orchestra will put on a show titled ‘Music for the Heart’ on Sunday for the holiday.
That title is both figurative and literal, as the concert will warm your heart on a day that celebrates love, but will also help benefit the American Heart Association, which has partnered with the orchestra for the concert.
The orchestra, which includes several members from the Penn State School of Music faculty and area professional and pre-professional musicians from the university, is celebrating its 25th season of existence.
All concert attendees will receive a small bag of heart health-related material and Valentine’s Day treats thanks to Brooke Welsh, a Penn State School of Music alumna, orchestra board member, and regional director of the American Heart Association.
The performance will feature guest soprano soloist Danya Katok, a New York City musician and Penn State alumna who has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Katok has a private voice studio and teaches at Brooklyn College. She recently made her debut in New York as Max Oliver in Knussen’s ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’
The concert will include pieces on the theme of love like Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony, which the 19th century Austrian composer wrote as a love letter to his wife, Alma.
The concert is at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on campus, but also features some a free pre-concert lecture and a post-concert reception.
The lecture, given by Dr. Paul Haidet — the director of medical education research at the Penn State College of Medicine, will cover the health benefits of music at 2 p.m. According to a press release from the university, Haidet’s research has focused largely on on ‘music and the patient-physician communication.’
After the concert there will be a ‘Heart Health’ reception at Juniper Village with a chance to meet the performers. There will also be special encores performed by Katok and Yaniv Attar, the newly-appointed music director of the orchestra.
Tickets are $5 for Penn State students and children aged 16 and younger. Adult tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. a Portion of all sales will be donated to the American Heart Association and attendees are encouraged to wear red to the concert. You can purchase tickets on the orchestra website or by calling 814-234-8313.
