Southern Delaware Orchestra sets April 13 concert in Rehoboth

Southern Delaware Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 13, at Epworth United Methodist Church, 19285 Holland Glade Road, Rehoboth Beach.

The program will include works by Felix Mendelssohn, Edward Elgar and Jean Sibelius. This will be the group’s final concert as a strings-only orchestra. Building on the success of sold-out concerts in the fall and winter, the ensemble is adding a complement of brass, winds and percussion sections.

The first full symphony orchestra performances are set for Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10 and 11. Auditions open to the public to fill these positions will occur later this spring.

For the April 13 show, the orchestra will celebrate and feature the talents of two of its principal musicians in a program filled with classic favorites audiences will both embrace and recognize.

Completed in 1844, Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64” showcases his lean style of writing and reflects the elegant sensibilities of the classical period of music occurring just half a century earlier. Though he was an important figure in the lineage of German composers, Mendelssohn’s music was largely suppressed due to his background as a Protestant of Jewish heritage, as antisemitism took hold in Germany at the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century, Nazis banned performances of Mendelssohn’s music in an unsuccessful attempt to erase his legacy entirely.

Concertmaster Justin Chou will be the soloist performing the first movement of the Mendelssohn violin concerto. Chou began studying violin at the age of 3 and holds a master’s degree in violin performance from the University of Delaware, where he played under James Allen Anderson, Southern Delaware Orchestra conductor and UD head of orchestral studies. Chou notes that Mendelssohn, being a violinist himself, wrote a timeless concerto that falls sensibly under the fingers of the performer. In a world where technical virtuosity often overshadows emotional depth, Chou offers invaluable advice to aspiring musicians: to infuse their performances with authenticity and personal expression. He encourages them to embrace the music and make it their own.

Edward Elgar is one of England’s most revered composers. Finished in 1919, the “Cello Concerto op. 85” was Elgar’s last completed major work. At the time it premiered, it resonated deeply with the souls of the English citizens who had lived through the horrors of World War I. Among his popular compositions are “Enigma Variations” and “Pomp and Circumstance,” which is typically heard at commencement exercises.

Tony Gizzi, the orchestra’s principal cellist, will be the soloist performing the first movement of the Elgar “Cello Concerto, Op. 85.” Gizzi worked his way through college performing as a drummer and later took up private studies of the cello. Gizzi founded the Shrewsbury String Quartet in 1998, which continues to perform. “The main theme of the cello quartet appeared in Elgar’s mind while recovering from the effects of anesthesia following a tonsillectomy,” Gizzi said.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to sodelomusic.org.