The word “magnificent” can be described as impressively beautifully, extravagant, striking, very good and excellent. All fitting words to describe the music of a composer who died way too young.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was only 35-years-old when he died, but he left us with more than 41 symphonies that we still enjoy hearing today. His most famous of these is “Symphony No. 40 in G minor.”

Starting dark and turbulent, and then moving through lyrical, to dramatic, to triumphant, the symphony takes us through a variety of moods and emotions. Because of this, I felt it was the perfect piece to anchor our first orchestral concert of the Allentown Symphony since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown in March 2020.

All of us have experienced a variety of emotions during this difficult time, and what better way to express and embrace these emotions than through music. The concert, “Magnificent Mozart,” premieres virtually, 7:30 p.m. May 1, and after that is available for on-demand streaming.

The concert features Allentown Symphony Principal Trumpet Omri Barak, performing a trumpet concerto by the Czech composer Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (1711 - 1776). The piece was originally composed for hunting horn, but now is played mostly on the trumpet. Omri, a Masters candidate at Rice University in Texas, won the principal trumpet position with the Allentown Symphony in 2017 in a very competitive audition behind a screen when he was just 19-years-old.

Opening the concert is a work by French composer Louise Farrenc (1804 - 1875). She was the only female professor of music to be hired in the 19th century at the Paris Conservatory and one of the few female composers of the era to have her compositions actively performed.

I am guessing that most of you have never heard of Louise Farrenc. So far, I have been inspired by every piece of hers that I have heard and I am very excited to bring her music to our Lehigh Valley audience. Her music is energetic, harmonically interesting, beautiful and heartfelt.

The concert will be very special for all of us in the Allentown Symphony. It will be the first time that we have gathered as an orchestra since the pandemic hit last March, and it will be the first time for me to conduct the members of the Allentown Symphony since that time.

For the concert, members of the orchestra will be socially-distanced six-feet apart. The winds will be in cubicles. We are being very careful to abide by all local and national COVID protocols. This will create some musical challenges for the musicians to hear each other across a broad amount of space, but we are up for the challenge! We are all very happy to be getting together again to perform this great music for our wonderful subscribers, supporters and music lovers throughout the region.

The concert is first of three Allentown Symphony Orchestra concerts that will conclude our season. The other two concerts, featuring the music of Schubert, and the music of Beethoven, will air on May 29 and June 12 with premiere virtual streams at 7:30 p.m. After those dates, the concerts will be available for on-demand streaming.

Ticket information:

https://www.millersymphonyhall.org/calendar/event/894/

Diane Wittry is Music Director and Conductor of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra; Music Director and Conductor of The Garden State Philharmonic, New Jersey, and author of “Beyond the Baton: What Every Conductor Needs To Know” and “Baton Basics: Communicating Music Through Gestures.” Wittry, one of “Musical America” Worldwide Top 30 Musical Influencers,” teaches conducting workshops throughout the United States and Europe.