by Ed. Simone The Southern Tier Symphony performs their final season concert this weekend in Olean and Bradford. The musical choices are all crowd-pleasers. "Musical Postcards," is this weekend's concert program and the STS's farewell to their "Journey On" season. These orchestral postings come from composers as varied as Dvorak and Grainger and feature dance tunes and symphonic pictures of cultures and places from the Kazakh plains to Kinsale. "This is a wonderful program, full of audience favorites. It takes us on a journey from Britain to the Asian Steppes, with music from beloved compos ..read more

by Ed. Simone When the Southern Tier Symphony performs this weekend in Olean and Bradford the music will surely raise pulses and cause feet to tap, with a program of orchestral favorites guaranteed to prompt some energetic "air conducting." "Adventure," is this weekend's concert program and the latest in the STS's "Journey On" season, features dance music from Russia, France, Germany, Italy and the U.S. "This is just a great program for anyone new to orchestral concerts," said STS Executive Director Cyril Bodnar. "These pieces are a perfect introduction to the excitement of orchestral concer ..read more

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Southern Tier Symphony cancels weekend concerts. Both performances, Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Bonaventure University Quick Arts Center and Sunday Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Blaisdell Hall have been cancelled.   Check www.southerntiersymph.org for information.   About the Southern Tier Symphony: A non-profit organization, supported in part by the New York State Council of the Arts, is committed to providing exceptional orchestra experiences for musicians and audiences alike. Dedicated to enriching our comm ..read more

The Southern Tier Symphony announces its 21st season. Journey On! A series of three concerts that enthusiastically begin a new decade of making music in Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania.   Audiences will go to places far and wide without leaving the concert hall. Performances will be on stage Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at St. Bonaventure University Quick Arts Center and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Blaisdell Hall.   “The first performance is a trip down memory lane, full of familiar music and a familiar face,” said Ben Grow, mu ..read more

by Ed. Simone The stage of the Regina A. Quick Center on St. Bonaventure's campus was crowded with musicians for last weekend's Southern Tier Symphony concert, with music director Benjamin Grow. All that power assembled for "Celebrating Symphony," the last concert in the Symphony's 20th season. Symphony here means not just the composition; but the act of creating pieces of orchestral music for a full symphony orchestra and all the creative collaboration that requires. But the concert opened with an actual symphony, Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 in A minor, known as the Scottish Symphony ..read more

The Southern Tier Symphony invites the community to its 20th anniversary celebration. A concert with reception to follow.   An event full of fanfare. In addition to a performance with trumpeting, all orchestral instruments will be on full display. The display continues after the concert, with a reception of memorabilia and the chance to meet musicians.   It begins as it has for over 80 concerts across two decades, with the professional musicians of the Southern Tier Symphony commanding the stage. This performance will take the audience on a trip down memory lane. Symphony founder, Jo ..read more

by Ed. Simone   Music Director Ben Grow's back on the podium of the Southern Tier Symphony after COVID kept him from leading the last concert. It's a wonderful return. An Eighteenth-Centurya- thon featuring pieces by Mozart, Haydn and Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.   The program opens with Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, a 1787 piece that's probably one of the most played bits of music ever. It's perennially delightful.   But it's the Andante movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, with Laura Peterson as soloist, that pushes us closer to the co ..read more

by Ed. Simone   When a concert soloist is suddenly taken ill it's often sheer luck to find someone with the musical chops to step in. When it happens to an orchestra's music director, it's ten-to-one and pick 'em if you can find a musician who knows the scores in detail and knows how to conduct. When Benjamin Grow, the Southern Tier Symphony's music director, tested positive for COVID just before the orchestra's final rehearsal, John Landis, the STS librarian and principal percussionist, was able to step in. Landis, a long-time conductor and orchestral musician, knew the scores and was ab ..read more

by Ed. Simone   This weekend's concert by the Southern Tier Symphony and its music director, Benjamin Grow, features works with a light touch. Not that these pieces from Grieg, Mendelssohn and Mozart lack substance or impact: far from it. And each piece evinces that lightness uniquely---a trip through Shakespeare's fairyland for Mendelssohn; a nostalgic string suite for Grieg; and a nimble symphony sans trumpets and tympani for Mozart.   The Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg's "From Holberg's Time" is a suite of old-style folk dances, although the themes are Grieg's. It's meant to evok ..read more

A click away, www.southerntiersymph.org, offers access to the Southern Tier Symphony’s YouTube channel where it’s easy to catch up on last season’s virtual concerts performed by symphony musicians.   “With the pandemic we wanted to figure out how we could still engage with our audience even though we couldn’t be together in the traditional concert hall,” said Laura Peterson, executive director of the Southern Tier Symphony.   The symphony offered three online programs of music and stories.   “We had to get creative,” said Benjamin Grow, music director and conductor of the Southe ..read more